The Hitch Hikers Guide To The Galaxy
by Claira McGarrett
Summary: This is my own story where Douglas Adams once left off or leapt off. Why I have never finsihed this story is a very hard questions to answer but I always catch myself reading this story and I would like you to read it too. Thank you.


**A TWINKLE IN HIS EYE**

(This has been re-written from the original synopsis composed by me in the 1990's.)

This is my own story, starting where Douglas Adams once left, off or leapt off.

CHAPTER 1

Unknown to Arthur Dent at that stage, Ford Prefect also had a daughter, Claira, who had suddenly come to light over the sub etha radio advertising some stupid planet who's inhabitants were under threat from the Vogon's who were again looking to drive a by-pass through another worthless planet.

Ford walked into the offices of the Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy and managed to catch Trillian running down the corridor with a wad of papers in her arms, which was now starting to slip down past her stomach to fall to the floor.

"Oh, damn, not again." She said now kneeling down and picking up the papers. She noticed a pair of feet move up to her. "Well, whoever you are, don't just stand there, help me collect these papers before I,…..oh, dam!" The other paper now fell to the floor. "Great!"

Ford now knelt down and helped her.

"Thanks." She said then looked at the person helping her. "Ford! Wh… what are you doing here?" She said now standing up and adjusting herself.

"I work here, remember?" He said watching her trying to compose herself.

"Well, of course you do, now if you excuse me I have to be somewhere with all this." She said stepping aside and trying to get back into a running walk.

"Where's Claira, Trillian?" Ford said after her.

Trillian stopped and all the papers fell from her arms again. She now turned round and faced him.

"Claira?" She said giving a worried smile.

"Claira, my daughter. You do remember my daughter, don't you?" He said crossing his arms in a very protective manner. "…Last seen in a sub etha wave band message trying to save another planet from the Vogon's." He said now moving to stand almost nose to nose with her regardless of the papers now free flying around the floor under the mercy of the air conditioning ducts flying straight up at them.

Trillian watched Ford for a moment then remembered where she was.

"Err, Claira, your daughter, yeah I remember her. Erm, I wouldn't know, planet hopping, somewhere, knowing her." She said now trying to raise a laugh from his stern expression.

"Not really. Do you?"

"What?" She said looking past him to the free flying papers.

"Know her? Claira? My daughter!" He said looking at her.

"Look Ford, I really don't have time for this. I have places to be, things to do…"

"Fine, you can do all that after you tell me where I can find my daughter." He said now helping Trillian with collecting the papers again.

"You're not going to let me go until I tell you, no?"

"No." He said shaking his head while watching her.

Trillian nodded and they walked off down the corridor together.

**CHAPTER 2**

A ship docked at a spaceport and the occupants entered the terminus to be greeted by a load of screaming fans. The whole area was a buzz of attention for a few seconds as the centre of attention, a seedy low life would-be pop star moved to a coffee bar at the back of the terminus.

Claira walked out of the same ship and moved totally unnoticed to the same bar, grabbed a coffee and sat down in a cold, shabby and dull corner to console herself in her thoughts. Something made her remember her two days she spent on Earth with Ford before she left the night before it was destroyed by the Vogon's to make way for a new hyper space by-pass. She stirred the sugar into her coffee, staring at the brown mixture, and then swallowed the cups contents.

"Claira? Claira Prefect. Is there a Claira Prefect here?" A voice said over the speakers.

Claira sighed and slowly stood up and moved to the intercom. She pressed a very hard button and moved as close as she dared to the speaker.

"This is Claira Prefect, go ahead with your message."

"Claira, long times no hear." Another voice said over the speaker.

Claira looked at the speaker as she recognised the voice coming back at her.

"Oh hello Darth, I mean Garth."

"You never could get my name right."

"Well seeing what you've been wearing lately you remind me of a film that I once saw."

"You mean to say that you've actually seen me lately? Well, I would like to say the same for you Miss Prefect, but you seem to avoiding me at the moment. But, I hear that you are doing very well on my money."

"Look, I told you. When I get back on my feet, I'll pay you back, in triplicate if that's what it takes to get you off my back!" She said now turning away from the speaker.

"Sorry Claira, you faded there, what was that?"

"I've got to go. I'll contact you as soon as I sniff out what the Vogon's are up to with that interstellar space junk. If they think that they can use that as their bulldozer they've got another thing coming."

"Time is running out Claira. If I don't hear from you by the end of this week I go with the weeble story." The intercom went dead.

"Weeble story. Another load of freebies from a dumpster." Claira said now moving back to her table to find that someone had taken it and was in no hurry to give it up to a human being.

**CHAPTER 3**

Ford followed Trillian back to an empty office and watched her place the papers in a waste bin. He looked at her in bewilderment.

"But, I thought that you wanted them…" He said pointing.

"What? Oh no, I was just trying to look busy. Yesterday they sent me out to get some toner for the photocopier. Today the copier finished it's run and this is the end result." She said now tidying herself up.

Ford shook his head and moved to the window of the giant room. He focused in on a set of ships trying to land at the Hitch Hiker offices. He now turned back and looked at Trillian.

"So, are you going to tell me where she is?"

"Who?"

"Trillian!"

"Alright, alright. She'd kill me if she found out I'd told you. You do know that, don't you?"

He looked at her. Trillian sighed and moved up to him.

"You really want to know?"

"I really want to know."

"She's probably at one of those space ports by now."

"Space ports? Which one?" He said getting out his sub etha radio.

"I'm not sure. She was going to phone me but I think she's probably forgotten."

Trillian walked away just as the intercom button flashed on the wall beside the desk she was working at. They both looked at it flashing.

"Aren't you going to answer that? Ford asked.

"Well, I erm."

"It could be very important."

"Important? What here?

"It's been sent down to your desk."

"So it has."

"Trillian, answer it."

"Alright, alright. Hello?" She said as she pressed the button.

"Trillian? Ah, thank god I reached you." Claira said over the speaker.

Trillian watched Ford move closer to the speaker.

"Trillian? It is you, isn't it?"

"Yes, it's me."

"Ah, great. How's the flip side?"

"Fine, just fine."

"Flip side? What does she mean?"

"Hey, who's that with you?"

"Erm, nobody."

"Find out where she is, Trillian." Ford said moving away from the speaker.

"Trillian?"

"I'm still here Claira. Erm, where are you?"

"In a coffee bar at the north end space port. I'm waiting for a freighter to the North Star. Word has it that the Vogon's are heading north to sort out some more space junk as a bulldozer. If this is the case then they've got to deal with the Claira Prefect first."

Trillian looked at Ford then the speaker.

"Claira…

"Yes?"

"Your…." Ford grabbing her hand now stopped her in mid sentence.

"No, Trillian. I do this on my own."

"Trillian? What is wrong over there?

"Nothing."

"Well okay erm, I've got to go. I have a freighter to lasso."

"Claira…." She said looking at Ford.

"Yes?"

Trillian smiled and looked at the intercom again. "Look after yourself."

"Thanks Trillian, that means a lot. See you around sometime, ha?"

"Yeah, sometime." She said pressing the button to turn off the light.

Ford moved to the door, stopped and looked back.

"Thanks Trillian. I owe you one."

"You owe me several. Go find your daughter." She said smiling.

He now rushed back to her and they kissed.

"See you." He said then ran out.

Trillian watched him go then got up and looked at the paper in the bin and then went back to her mundane job.

**CHAPTER 4**

Claira moved away from the intercom and made her way through the café back out to the very overcrowded spaceport. She checked stand after stand that sent out useless information about space hoppers offering nowhere to go very quickly. She ventured upstairs to get a more overall view of the vast port as another ship arrived.

Ford jumped off the ship and moved through the port in search of anyone remotely human. He went to the café and noticed the intercom that Claira had used to talk to Trillian earlier. He made some enquiries about the northbound freighter that Claira was due to leave on then moved back out to the terminus.

Claira now entered the lift and headed back down to the ground floor to catch her freighter.

Ford moved to the lift and decided that a better view would be available to him upstairs so pressed the button to call the lift.

The door now opened and Claira now stood not more than two feet away from him.

Her mouth dropped as she recognised him.

"Dad…."

Their first meeting came flooding back into their minds.

**CHAPTER 5**

It was two days before the Earth was due to be demolished by the Vogon's to make way for a new hyper space by-pass, when Ford Prefect was in a supermarket in Islington High Street collecting his last set of meals, when he became aware of a little girl that had started to follow him around the shop holding what she had collected in her small arms.

Ford carried on round until he came to the checkout and now noticed that the girl who had been following him around the shop had now placed all her shopping with his and watched as the checkout operator scanned his shopping along with the child's.

Ford put his shopping in the bags along with the child's and left the supermarket with the girl following closely behind. When Ford was sure no one was looking he stopped and turned back to face the child. She slowly walked up to him and they stood facing each other.

"Alright, that's far enough. Where do you want all this stuff?" He said watching her.

The girl just stood there looking at him.

"Look, I've got no time for tomfoolery. Do you want these groceries you sneaked into my shopping or not?" He said looking at her.

The girl now moved forward watching him all the way and slowly took the things she had acquired from him.

"Good, now get out of here and don't let me catch you doing this again." He said picking up his groceries and walking away.

The girl watched him walk away then started to walk on in his direction making sure she kept up with him as she went.

By the time Ford had reached his front door the child was standing on the opposite side of the road watching him.

"I thought I told you to get lost." He said shouting over to her.

The girl looked up and down the road then back at Ford.

"Well?" He added.

The child slowly moved off down the street looking back a few times at Ford as she went. Ford moved up to his door and put the key into the lock. He looked back and noticed that the child had now crossed over and was walking back up to him. He waited until the child had reached him.

"What's your game ha?" He said looking at her.

The child shrugged her shoulders and looked at him again.

Ford smiled and opened the door to his house.

"Come on. Those arms of yours must be aching by now." He said allowing the child to move past him into his house. "You can put your shopping down there until it's time for you to leave."

Ford watched the child look around then moved forward.

"Okay, so lets start with your name. My name is Ford Prefect and you are?"

"Claira" She said not really interested in giving away anything else about herself at that stage.

"Claira?" He said moving around her.

"Yeah."

"Well, it's nice to meet you." He said putting out his hand.

She looked at it then moved away into the kitchen.

"Have you got anything to eat around here Ford? I'm starved." She said moving into the kitchen and checking the contents of his cupboards.

"Hey, keep your nose out of my cupboards." He said closing them behind her.

"Well, sorry…." She said sarcastically then walked into the living room and sat down on the sofa going through the TV channels with the remote control.

"Did I tell you that you could play with that?" He said moving up to her and taking the remote from her.

"No!"

"Then don't. I can easily throw you out of this house you know." He said pointing to the door.

"Well, yes sir." She said saluting him and faced forward.

Ford watched her and slightly smiled then turned round and went upstairs. Claira noticed that he was not around so got up and went back in to the kitchen and looked around for something to eat. She then came across a small radio and turned it on. She noticed a dial and started to turn it. A voice now came back at her.

"_We have now settled into orbit around the planet known to its inhabitants as Earth. We are starting to prepare the area for the arrival of the Vogon Constructor Fleet in two of your Earth day's time. Anyone hearing this transmission that would like to leave before the Vogon's get here would be made very welcome. Just point your transmission beam to me and I will do the rest. Message ends."_

The radio now went dead.

"What are you doing with that?" Ford said behind her.

"Erm, I was hungry." She said spinning round and watched him.

Ford moved forward and took the radio from her.

"Well, this is not edible." He said putting the radio back where Claira had found it.

"I can see that, Ford. Do you have any idea of what is around here?"

"Let's see, ha?

Ford made some dinner and they sat down in front of the evening tele to eat it.

"Hmm, this is nice." Claira said tucking in.

"Thanks."

After dinner Ford and Claira relaxed in front of the tele. Ford decided to find out a few things about Claira as she relaxed.

"So, tell me Claira, where do you live?" He said deciding to look at the tele as he asked this rather personal question.

"What?" She said now turning sharply to face him.

"Sorry, did I say something wrong there?"

"No… I guess that I was just watching the tele, that's all." She said trying to relax.

"I was just asking where you lived."

"Erm, nowhere, I guess."

"Nowhere?"

"A-ha." She said going back to the tele.

"Oh well, that's alright then." He said now looking at her and smiling.

She took a half glance at Ford but then went back to the soap that they were now both watching.

A few hours later Claira decided to grab a light snack from the kitchen when she noticed the radio in the cupboard, which was now next to a sort of electronic book that had the words _"Don't Panic"_ on the front of it. She now picked the radio up and turned it on.

"_Phase one now complete. I must repeat that if there is anyone out there who is listening to this transmission and you would like to leave your miserable planet before it gets blown into tiny chunks of rock then I am your only chance of doing so as the Vogon's are not know for picking up hitch hikers. At this present stage of mining, the Vogon Constructor Fleet is currently thirty-six hours away. If you wish to go bang along with this planet then just forget that I ever mentioned anything. Message ends."_

Claira looked up from the radio then grabbed the book and moved in to the living to where Ford was pouring out a drink for himself.

"What is this?" She said shoving the book under his nose.

"It's a book."

"Well, yes, I can see that, but what I want to know is why does it have the words _"Don't Panic"_ on its cover?

"I don't know. But there's no reason why it cannot have 'Don't Panic' on the cover. I didn't write it, I only contribute to it."

"You contribute to it?" She said moving to sit next to him. "You're a writer?" She said getting all excited.

"Well, no… I'm a hitch hiker."

"A, what?" She said facing him.

"A hitch hiker and this book is sort of a companion to the hitch hiker."

"You, a hitch hiker?"

"Claira, anyone can be a hitch hiker, even you." He said pointing to her. "The difference between a hitch hiker that I think you are taking me for is that I just don't want a lift down the road. My down the road is a little further down the road than you would think."

"I've been out of Islington before…"

"Oh really?"

"Yes… I went to Baker Street the other month on the underground. True I had to walk back but that was sort of like hitch hiking. I went down the road." Claira said crossing her arms and slightly leaned onto Ford.

"I'm not denying that you did, but, if you heard that I've actually been to, say Jupiter and back, what would you say to that?"

"Jupiter? Where's that? Oh, don't tell me, just outside London, right?"

Ford laughed and took the book from her and moved back into the kitchen. Claira quickly followed. She was about to carry on cross-examining him on the book when she noticed the radio. She now picked this up and shoved it under his nose.

"And what's this?"

"It's a radio." He said then looked at his watch. "Good gracious, is that the time. Don't you think that you should be heading upstairs? I've been busy making you a bed upstairs."

"Oh really? Well, maybe I should be thinking about getting off this planet once and for all, ha?"

"Claira…."

"This is not just a normal radio Ford, I can't pick up Radio One." She said playing with the dial.

"Ah, well, you see that's because you aren't in the right position. These houses seem to block out the FM waves. There you go." He said handing the radio back to her.

"I didn't want Radio One anyway. There was something on here earlier…"

"Yes, it was probably local radio, they're much stronger around here." He said trying to put Claira off the idea of asking any more leading questions.

Claira looked at the radio then at Ford who was not really in the mood to help. She handed the radio back to him and turned round.

"Well, now where are you going?"

"To my bed, if that is allowed. It's obvious that as you have been busy making up a bed for me that you want me to stay the night." She said shyly looking back at him then moving away.

Ford watched her mope up the stairs. He now moved back out to the living room and relaxed with a small drink.

**CHAPTER 6**

Very high above Ford and Claira, in close orbit around the Earth, sat the Lone Destron Satellite Destroyer. They are hired out by the Vogon Constructor Fleet to clear any area that the fleet might be using so that when the fleet either enters or leaves an area they do not drag anything with them as they go. Safety rules must be obeyed even if you are destroying the planet to make way for a hyperspace by-pass. Rules are rules in any reality.

"_I think that we might as well just clear the whole mass of junk around this planet. You know, just to make sure that nothing gets left behind in the end. Yes, that lot over there can go, that two."_ A highly rated crewman on the Lone Destron Satellite Destroyer said. Well, ay least he thought himself highly rated because no one else did.

Then next morning, Claira moved into the kitchen and noticed the radio and a small electronic thumb device. She now put both of them into her pocket and looked around for something to eat.

"Is that you, Claira?" Ford said from the living room.

"Who else could it be?" She said from the kitchen.

"Oh, I don't know, it could have been the Vogon's for all I know." He said chuckling to himself.

Claira found something to eat then moved in to the living room and sat down next to him.

"Do you know that I've been hearing the word Vogon since early yesterday evening. Would you care to tell me who or what you are on about?" She said tucking into her cereal.

Ford stopped her, leaned forward, took her spoon and now eats the contents of that spoon.

"Hey, that's mine, get your own."

"Well, thank you. You're in my house, eating my cereal and you tell me to get my own?" He said looking away.

"Alright, alright. Point taken, sorry."

"Thanks."

"But, what about that word… Vogon?"

"Oh that's nothing for you to worry about, yet."

"Yet?"

"A-ha." He said kissing her and getting up to head in to the kitchen.

Claira watched him go then looked at her cereal as she started to wonder exactly what Ford was talking about. He now came back in with two cups.

"Do you want a cup of coffee?"

"Only if you tell me more about these Vogon's, who or whatever they are."

"I will."

"When?"

"Maybe tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? Who says I will be with you tomorrow? Who says that I'm going to be with you in five minutes?" She said jumping up, grabbed her coat and ran out of the front door.

Ford sighed, moved up to the open door and closed it.

"It was nice knowing you, Claira Prefect." He said then carried on with his mundane housework.

**CHAPTER 7**

Claira found solace in walking round Islington High Street doing the occasional window-shopping if a police car happened to sail past. She moved to the local park and sat down on the bench as she remembered the radio she had stolen from Ford and gently pulled it from her back pocket and started to scan through the frequencies.

"_And yes, I would just like to report to you now that the Vogon Constructor Fleet have now entered onto our scanners and are currently just under twenty four hours away. Don't forget you still have time to join my wonderful crew up here unless you really do want to go up with this somewhat blue planet of yours. Message ends."_

Claira jumped up from her seat and looked skyward then looked towards the direction of Ford's home. She ran through the High Street and back to Ford's house out of breath.

Ford was trying to make himself look useful by cleaning around the house as Claira burst through the front door.

"The Vogon Constructor Fleet is on the Lone Destron Satellite Destroyers scanner." She said waving the radio under his nose.

Ford looked at it then her.

"Yes, I know."

"You know?

"A-ha."

"Well aren't you going to anything about it? They're coming to destroy our planet!" She said counting Ford as a human.

Ford stepped away and tried to move the sideboard.

"Say Claira, could you get the other end of this thing for me?" He said directing her over to the sideboard.

Claira looked at him in amazement that he wasn't interested in what she had just said.

"But, the Earth."

"Is coming to an end in less than twenty four hours, yes I know this. I told you before, you don't have to worry about this." Ford said pointing to the sideboard.

Claira moved to the other end of the sideboard.

"Well, why not?"

"Because you're coming with me." He said starting to lift.

"Coming with you? Well, where? Earth is about to get blown away and you don't seem very interested in this fact at the moment."

"If we could just move it a little bit over there, darling, I might be able to get the rest with the hovers nozzle."

"Sod the sideboard, dad, this planet and all it's inhabitants will go boom tomorrow and I'm sure that it wouldn't matter to the Vogon's if there is dust underneath the sideboard unless they send a team of inspectors down who have a thing about dust before they destroy a planet!"

Ford looked up and laughed.

"I like that. Maybe I could use that when I get back to the guides headquarters on planet Thal." He said watching her.

"Oh well, at least you have a place to go after tomorrow. Well, didn't I pick a wrong one here?" She said stepping back and crossing her arms.

"Look, will you shut up for once and help me with this dam thing before I drop it on my toe." Ford said taking the weight again.

Claira dropped the radio and went to the other end to help move the sideboard with him. They looked down at the dust on the floor where the sideboard once stood.

"Wow, it's amazing how much dust collects under there in a few years, ha?" He said looking at her. "Come here." He now said moving towards her and putting his arms out.

Claira moved back not wishing to have anything to do with him.

"No! Just leave me alone! You don't even care, how could I ever?"

"Claira, it's a little late for anyone to care. These plans were drawn up long before you were born. There's nothing that can be done now." He said moving up to almost touch her.

"Well, I'm going to try." She said now running back out, grabbing the radio as she went.

Ford watched her go then grabbed his coat and ran out after her.

Claira ran back to the High Street and tried to tell everyone about the destruction of the Earth the next day, but she was only causing a disturbance and the police were called.

Ford walked up and down the High Street then heard the police sirens and noticed Claira bolting down the road with the police in hot pursuit.

"Claira!!!" He shouted from the other side of the street.

Claira stopped and focused in on him.

"Dad!" She said now crossing the road as the police finally caught up with her. "Hide me Ford. They're going to put me away for good this time." She said burying her head into his side.

Ford watched as the policemen moved up to him.

"Would you mind stepping aside, sir? We've been after this child for some time now." The policeman said.

"Dad…." Claira softly said from his side.

"Sir?"

Ford sighed and looked down at her. He then looked at the policeman.

"I'm afraid that wont be necessary, officer. Claira is my daughter and I'm just collecting her to take her home."

"Your daughter?"

"Yes."

"Have you got any proof of this fact, sir?"

"I have but, it's all at home. I'd gladly bring it all up to you in the morning." He said smiling.

Claira stepped back as she watched the police talk with Ford then leave him to it. She now realised that he was staring at her.

"Erm, hi." She said smiling.

"Is that all you have to say to me? I just saved your life back there and all you can say is, hi?"

"Saved my life? Ford, that was nothing. You should have been with me the other week, which was scary. I ended up in the nick that time."

Ford now shook his head and walked away.

"Well, where are you going?

"I'm going for a walk. I don't know about you. I don't even care about you."

"Dad!"

"Don't Claira. I'm not interested in anything you have to say." He said walking off.

Ford soon found himself in a café and ordered a coffee. He looked back at Claira now walking in to end up standing next to him.

"Erm, would you make that two coffee's please love and erm, two buttered rolls, thanks." He said paying for what he had ordered and moving over to a spare table and sat down.

Claira sat down opposite him. They did not speak as the lady brought over there order. Claira attacked the roll, which made Ford watch her.

"Nice?"

"Yeah. These are the best rolls in the High Street, thanks Ford. I guess, I guess that I owe you one, ha?" She said watching him stir the sugar into his coffee.

"Who, me?"

Claira carried on eating her roll then looked at her coffee and grabbed the sugar bowl and spooned two heaps into it. She slowly stirred the sugar into her coffee and took a sip from the cup.

"This is my first cup of coffee." She said making conversation.

"Is it?"

"Yes. Well, I always have cokes or an orange juice. A coffee is something that I wouldn't really go for if I was on my own."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Well, maybe next time when you're on your own you will have coke or an orange juice again."

"Erm, yeah." She said realising what he was saying to her.

They finished their snack and Claira followed Ford back on to the High Street. He moved over to the park and sat down on the bench. Claira moved up behind him and leaned onto the backrest.

"So…." She said looking around. She now jumped onto the seat to sit next to him.

"So…what?" He said looking at her.

"How are we going to get off this planet before the Vogon's, you know…" Claira said turning to almost face him.

Ford leaned forward to come almost nose-to-nose with her.

"Why don't you leave that up to your dad, ha?" He said and now kissed her.

"Ford, I'm serious here." She said now standing in front of him.

"Oh, I'm not doubting that you aren't…"

"Then, I think that you have a right to tell me." She said sitting back down and folding her arms.

Ford sighed and realised that he wasn't get a moment of peace if he didn't tell her what she wanted to hear.

"You see this…?" He said taking out the radio.

"Yes." She said shyly looking at the radio in his hand.

"This will help me locate where the Vogon Constructor Fleet are. At the right time and place, I will use an electronic thumbing device to contact the ship to enable us to get a lift from them."

"A lift? Oh, I get it; you're a hitchhiker, I keep forgetting." She said turning away. "Wait a minute…" She said now turning back to face him.

"What?"

"I thought that you said that the Vogon's don't like…" She stopped and looked at the device that Ford was now putting back in to his pocket.

"The Vogon's don't like, what?" He said looking at her.

"Erm, nothing. It doesn't matter." She said thinking to herself.

"I have to collect Arthur in the morning as he will be coming with us."

"Who's Arthur?"

"He's a friend of mine."

"Oh, right." She said looking away thinking to herself again.

"Hey, will you stop worrying. Everything is going to be okay."

"Yeah, sure it is, dad."

Ford kissed her and they walked out of the park hand in had and back to his house.

They had a late meal then relaxed in front of the tele. Claira soon felt tired and made her excuses and headed upstairs with Ford's radio that she had stolen from him.

Claira scanned the frequencies all evening. Ford opened her door and moved up to her.

"Hey, do you know what time it is?" He said starting to tuck her in.

"I know it's late dad, but this channel is interesting."

"The Lone Destron Satellite Destroyer? Interesting? Have you been out in the sun all your life?" He said checking her temperature.

"Dad…" She said laughing.

"I want you to try and get some sleep for me, darling. We have a very special day coming up together, tomorrow. I'll introduce you to Arthur and the rest of your life." He said kissing her.

Claira watched him move to the door.

"I'll see you." He said as he closed the door.

"Yeah, sometime." She said now concentrating on the signal from the destroyer again.

Millions of miles above Islington late that night sat the Lone Destron Satellite Destroyer in a stationary orbit checking the atmosphere of the planet.

"_Yeah, we'll hold it there for the night. We can let the Vogon's have these co-ordinates in the morning." _A crewman said over the sub etha radio waves. _"Have we got anybody down there that can hear this transmission, yet? I hate talking to myself, you know. You would be made very welcome aboard, even if you just want to come up for the night. Oh please, there must be someone on the planet that doesn't want to be around when this planet gets disintegrated tomorrow." _The voice said over the radio in Claira's tight grasp that night.

Claira looked up and over to the bedroom window and thought about everything that Ford had said to her. She then looked at the radio in her hand.

"_There must be someone down there who is listening to this transmission? Listen, I maybe the only person aboard this dam ship and I know your not all alone down there, but your going to be in less than twelve hours time unless you don't take the gamble and join me up here on my wonderful ship."_ The voice said down the radio to hit Claira's ears like an alarm clock. _"Someone please join me up here. You don't know what you're missing. You can have excitement and adventure and really wild things all rolled into one up here. Message ends." _The radio went dead.

Claira looked up from the radio

"Excitement and adventure and really wild things? Sounds awful." She now looked at the device in her hand. "But, then again, what's stopping me here?" Claira added not even thinking about Ford who sat below her watching a film on the television.

Claira now placed the radio on the nightstand and pressed the button on the electronic thumbing device as she was successfully transported on to the ship.

The noise of the transmition being accepted brought Ford flying up the stairs and in to her room just to watch her disappear.

"Claira!!!" Ford said after her.

Realising Claira was gone for good he took the radio, closed the door and headed downstairs thinking of her as he went.

**CHAPTER 8**

That was the last time Ford had seen Claira until they came face to face with one another at the lift entrance on the north end space terminal.

Claira looked away first as she remembered the night she left.

"It's Claira, isn't it?" Ford said breaking the ice.

She now looked back at him.

"Yes, that's right. It's Ford, isn't it?" She said knowing exactly who he was.

"That's right." He said folding his arms. "Well, well, long time no see."

"Erm, yeah." She said uneasily looking down them back up again.

"What have you been doing with yourself lately?" He asked

The lift buzzer now sounded as someone requested the lift that Claira still stood in.

"Ermm." She said looking back.

"Maybe you should step out for a moment. You're blocking the sensor." He said attempting to pull Claira free of the lift.

The door closed behind her and she heard the lift whisk away as she wished that she were still inside it so that it could take her away from the situation that she now found herself in. She looked back at the closed door then slowly turned back to Ford and watched him.

They stood there for a while looking at each other just as the speakers announced Claira's ship departure to the north star. She now looked at the board flashing the notice in big red neon lights.

Ford looked up to the sign also. "Oh, I'm sorry, am I keeping you from something important?" He asked.

"Important? No, no! Just another planet that might be under threat from the Vogon's…" She said stepping back and folding her arms in a way that reminded Ford more of him.

"Oh, well, that's alright then."

"You remember the Vogon's don't you, Ford?" She said watching him.

"Umm, I seem to, yes."

"Yeah, well you see, their planning to acquire some space junk and turn it into a bulldozer to destroy a few more planets in the solar system. Clever idea, don't you think?"

"Yes, very droll" He said yawning.

"Why do I bother?" She said turning away and throwing her hands into the air.

"You tell me." He said tapping her shoulder. "I told you before kid, you can't change what has already been decided long before you were born."

Claira shyly turned back to look at him, shook her head and moved past him to catch her lift. Ford now moved in front of her to stop her taking one more step.

"You're not going anywhere until we've had a chance to talk. Now, there is a café over there. I would like to know if you would kindly follow me so that we can have a chat. Catch up on, on two years of being parted from each other." He said moving his hand to touch her face and pull some hair away from her eyes.

Claira allowed him to do this then looked towards the café. She then looked back at him and slightly nodded.

"Alright." He said leading her through the busy terminal and into the café.

Ford now took Claira's hand and they walked over to the café and through the entrance. The place was packed out to the hilt. Claira watched Ford looking for a space.

"You're not going to get a seat here, dad, I'm a human. As soon as they see me they'll spread out on their seats."

Ford looked down at Claira, smiled and kissed her.

"Well, what was that for?" She asked looking at him.

"You called me dad. Now I know nothing has changed, except that you're two years older."

"And wiser."

"I don't think so." He said squeezing her hand.

"Oh really?" She said moving her hand away from his grasp. "Whose face has been plastered all over the walls lately?"

"The toilet walls, yes." He said watching her carrying on.

"Who's been on every sub etha wave band going in the last month or so? Claira Prefect, that's who. Wait a minute, what did you say?"

He moved back up to her.

"Will you get off that high horse of yours for once in your life. I'm your father; you don't have to play big and bold to me. I know how frightened you are, but I'm here now and I'm not going to let you go a second time."

"Second time?" She said stepping forward.

"Yeah, when you became scared about waiting until the end so, you sort of left before me and your Uncle Arthur. Didn't you trust me or something? No, don't answer that. I'm not blaming you, you we're scared, seven years old, if I were human, I would have done the same thing. Thank god I've found you before anything else had happened. I can now get you back on track."

"Back on track? Ford, what are you talking about?"

"To get you to forget about the Earth and your vendetta against the Vogon's for what they did. When are you going to drop this, Claira? The Earth is gone and you're here, with me, finally, and we can now carry on, together, like before, as a family."

"We were never a family. I only spent two days with you Ford, we never agreed to anything so why should I go anywhere with you now?" She said looking away.

"Because you're with me now and I don't think that you'd leave me again." He said looking at her.

"Is that so?" She said moving away.

Ford moved to the bar and ordered two cups of coffee and some rolls. He managed to find a space in the corner and sat down with the tray.

Claira walked out of the café and over to the information board.

"Hey! I'm Claira Prefect…. I know I've missed the freighter to the North Star. Have you any idea of when another transporter is available?"

"Six weeks. Hey, I thought that you wanted to be there before the Vogon's pulled out?"

"Yes, I do. Are their any other transporters heading that way?"

"Yeah, the Vogon's themselves…"

"Ha?"

"Their having an oil change here first before heading out to the North Star, but they…."

"They don't take hitch hikers, yeah, I kind of guessed that. Thanks, for nothing." She said moving away from the stand.

Ford started to stir the sugar into his coffee as a human child walked up to his table and placed her bag onto it. He looked up at her as he took a sip from his cup.

"Claira, well, what a surprise."

She stared at him then pulled out a chair and sat down.

"I bought you a cup of coffee and a roll. I guess that this would be your second coffee since we've met, ha?" He said smiling.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you? You knew that I wouldn't be able to leave this place, no radio, no transmitting device, no available transporters for weeks…" She said looking around.

"Do you still take two sugars, like me?" He said taking the sugar bowl and hovering it over her cup.

"They destroyed my home, dad! Earth!"

"Yes, I do know where you come from, Claira. I was marooned there for fifteen years; you seem to be forgetting at this important moment. Two sugars it is then." He said carrying on.

Claira watched as Ford dropped the sugar cubes into her cup and stir them in.

"Here, try this, you might be pleasantly surprised. It's not that bad, considering…"

Claira stared at the cup.

"Do you want me to feed you as well?"

"No!"

"Then drink it!" He said pushing the cup closer.

She slowly complied with his wishes and sipped at the coffee. She then looked at roll and started to eat it.

"Good, you're eating. That's nice to know." He said contentedly.

"Why did you go out of your way to find me, Ford? I've been away from you for two years now. Within those two years didn't you ever wonder where I was? What I was up to?"

Ford stared past her into the nothingness of space as he listened to her words.

"Dad?" She said trying to move into his eye line.

He now looked at her "You left me that night Claira, when I had already told you that you were going to be with me when the Earth was destroyed. Why didn't you trust me? You called me dad, I thought that we had an understanding, a… I helped you keep the police off your back and how do you repay me? Two years, not knowing where you were, whether you were still alive. You could have called me."

"I didn't know where you were." She said sheepishly looking away.

"Oh don't give me that, Claira. You told Trillian exactly where you were and she knew exactly where I was. When I noticed your programme on the sub etha wave band back at the offices I almost fell off my chair!"

Claira laughed and sat back.

"What did you think of it?"

"Hmm, what did I think of it? I thought why would my daughter want to get herself involved with old news? Then I remembered, my daughter has a grudge against the Vogon's for destroying her planet, that was also her home that she just happened to leave before it even got destroyed."

"Trillian left with Zaphod before the Earth was destroyed." She said moving forward.

"Trillian wasn't seven years old with her father in the same house as her promising to take her away from the Earth before it got destroyed, now, was she?"

"No, but…" She stopped and looked down.

"But, what?" Ford said prompting her.

She looked away. He now finished his coffee.

"Do you want another one?" He said changing the subject to help make her feel better.

"No, thank you. I have a phone call to make."

"Oh, who to?" He said looking at her.

"My boss, Darth. Damn, I mean Garth." Claira said getting up and moving to an available phone terminal.

Ford jumped up grabbed his satchel and followed her.

"Don't forget to tell him that your now travelling with me and that you are permanently unavailable. Not to mention that he is using an under age child to do his dirty work with. If he gives you any trouble just hand the receiver to me and I'll spell out the law to him in big capital letters."

"What, err, hey, Ford, do you mind? This is my living we're talking about here… Besides, I owe this guy too much just to walk away from his services." She said lifting up the receiver, stopping and looked at him moving in to stand next to her. "You, your saying that you can just take me away from all this?"

"Watch me." He said taking the receiver from her and dropping it. He now led a starry eyed child out of the café.

He walked up to an information terminal with Claira close into his side.

"Excuse me. Have you got any freighters heading out of here in, say, five minutes?"

"Five minutes, dad, what are you up to?" Claira said watching him.

"Shooosh, leave this to your dad." He said patting her head like she was a dog.

"Five minutes?" The alien conductor said picking up his schedule sheet with one of his trailing arms. "Yeah, that one over there, say, where are you heading?"

"Oh, doesn't matter. Just away from here for the moment."

"I hope you've got your card with you, they don't come cheap."

"I'm a researcher for the Hitch Hikers Guide To The Galaxy…"

The conductor looked up from his schedule. "What, that dust jacket?" Ford chuckled. "Funny, very funny."

"No, it wasn't meant to be."

He turned away. "Everybody wants to be a comedian these days."

"Not really, I'm happy just sitting here watching you lot come and go past my window every second."

"Dad…." Claira said not wishing to be a part of this conversation anymore and moved away.

"Claira, baby, your daddy is busy here, okay. Err, couldn't we just, erm." He carried on talking.

Claira watched Ford talking with the Plexiglas laying out his cards for all to see. Not that they meant anything to anyone at that point. He then moved away from the stand and back out to her.

"You got your bag?"

"Yes."

"Well, what are you waiting for?"

"You didn't actually get us a lift on the next freighter out of here, did you Ford?"

"I sure did. What? Don't trust me or something? I will make you learn to trust me. To make you realise the mistake you made when you left that night. But, as I said, I don't blame you. We're together now and it's going to stay that way, forever." He said taking her bag, pulling her into him and kissing her.

They were soon on the freighter and they watched it pull out of the terminal and into the blackness of space.

"So, where are we going?" Claira asked uneasy in her seat.

"Does that bother you?"

"Erm, yes." She said now looking around.

"Relax. We're together and that's all you need to know at the moment." He said stealing a kiss from her.

Claira wasn't at all happy with Ford's words, but she realised that she was totally at his mercy, so she tried to do what he said and relaxed. She was soon asleep on Ford's lap.

**CHAPTER 9**

Trillian was busy checking which shoes to wear to go home in that evening when her intercom buzzed away to itself.

"Oh no you don't. It's gone five o'clock, you can play to yourself for the rest of the evening." She said turning off the buzzer. She now focused in on the light flashing. "I said no…" She said moving away.

Ford was about to put the receiver down when the intercom clicked on.

"This better be a good reason for contacting me at a time like this." Trillian said checking her shoes again.

"Well, I'm so sorry, Trillian, I'll leave you to your evening…."

"Ford, Ford Prefect!!!" She said shouting down the speaker.

"Not too loud Trillian, Claira is asleep on my lap. Do you want to wake her?

"Claira? She's with you?" She said holding one shoe in her hand and hopping around on the other.

"Well, of course, what did you expect? I wouldn't have left without her by my side, although she did leave me…"

"Ford! How is she?"

"Fine. She's been asleep for hours. God knows how long she's been awake for."

"Are you bringing her home?" Trillian now asked very softly.

"I'm heading back to the offices, yes."

"Stop by my office for a while."

"First on my list. I know that Claira would be glad to see a fellow human after some of the creatures she's had to put up with the last six months or so." He said looking around the freighter ship to the unmentionable beings moving around at that time.

"She'd be more glad to see her father when she awakes in the morning." Trillian said as her words hit Ford like a sledgehammer.

"Ford? Ford, are you still there?" She said checking the intercom.

"I'm still here. We should be with you in a couple of days. I have somewhere to go first."

"I hope that it's somewhere nice."

"I hope that we'll be made welcome there, yes."

"I'm sure that you will."

"We'll see you, soon." The intercom went dead.

Ford looked down at Claira as he put the receiver back.

"I do sincerely hope so." He said kissing Claira as she stirred on his lap.

The next morning Claira woke up to an empty seat next to her.

"Dad? Ah, don't tell me this was all a dream."

"What was all a dream?" Ford said behind her.

"Dad…" She said now jumping up and hugging him.

"Hey, well this is very appreciated child, but can I ask why you're hugging me?"

"It's our third day together, daddy."

He looked at her then moved forward and sat in the chair next to her.

"The third of many more to come. Although I like to think of it as our first day together after you dumped the Earth, and me come to think of it for that Lone Destron Satellite Destroyer. I mean, whatever possessed you?"

She looked away. "You'll never forgive me for that, will you?"

"What? You think I should?" He said pointing to himself.

"Don't you think that I have paid for leaving that night with two years of my life, being away from you?" She said looking away.

Ford stared at her sunken eyes as he brought her face back to look at him.

"Two years, and look what you've done in those two years. What have you done in those two years?"

"What? You mean, you don't know? Well, I, I," She looked away. "Yeah, what have I done in those two years?" She gave a pause as she thought to herself. "The sub etha advertisements…."

"Meaningless."

"Meaning, hey whose side are you on?" She said looking at him sternly.

"Claira, there are no sides. It's not picked and chose here, besides you're too young to be making decisions. I make your decisions from now on my girl, remember that."

Claira was uneasy at his words, but let him sit contentedly as if to think that he had won. Claira had other plans but she consoled herself that she was safe for now. Plans were already being hatched in her brain that in no way was connected to or with Ford Prefect at that stage in her life.

**CHAPTER 10**

The freighter stopped suddenly at a wavering spaceport platform. Ford and Claira staggered out of the small hatch way and watched the freighter zoom away with a slight puff of its vapour trail. Claira now turned and looked at Ford looking down at her and gave him a cautious smile.

"Well, what happens now?" She said holding out her arms.

"Now, we wait."

"Wait?"

"A-ha." He said looking around.

"Wait for what?"

At that moment they were picked up by another ship.

"For this." He said as Claira looked at him sternly. "Well, you asked."

"Well, where is this taking us?"

"To an old friend."

"An old friend? You don't have any friends." She said looking away.

"Bite your tongue young lady. I have many friends, I just don't return any of their messages and polite gestures, that's all."

"If what your telling me is true, how do you know that this old friend would be glad to see you and me to boot and not just throw you out the minute they see you?"

"Because, at this present moment in time I think that I know this person a little bit better than you." He said kissing her and watched the stars flash past his porthole view.

The ship carried on for several hours and Claira soon fell asleep using Ford as her pillow. There was another jolt and Claira opened her eyes.

"What?" She said looking up.

"We've landed."

"Landed? Landed where?"

"I'm going to carry you, okay?"

She jumped out of her seat. "I can walk perfectly well, thank you Ford!" She said walking out down the ramp. "Breathable atmosphere." She said taking a lung of good air.

Ford moved in front of her. "I'm glad you approve. The town is just over here. Come on or we'll be late for breakfast."

"Breakfast?" She said hurrying her pace to keep up with Ford.

"Yes, breakfast, it's nearly seven in earth time." He said tapping his Japanese made wristwatch.

Claira focused in on the time on his watch then snapped herself out of it and followed her father into the town that seemed very quiet, very quiet indeed.

She now watched Ford stop and look at the so-called array of shops in front of him.

"Ah, I believe that this is the one." He said moving forward.

"If it isn't your in deep shit, father."

Ford chose not to listen to her anymore as he went in. Claira shook her head and slowly followed looking around the so-called shack.

"Wait there, I'll be out in a minute." A voice said.

Ford looked back at Claira now walking in and brought his finger to his lips. "Shooosh."

"I wasn't…"

"Shooosh!!!" He said staring at her then looked up to see Arthur standing in front of him.

"Ford."

"Hello Arthur."

Claira watched the two adults stare at each other then slightly coughed.

Arthur broke away first and looked at her.

"Don't tell me, this child is Claira Prefect?"

"The one and the very same. May I introduce my dear friend to you darling, Claira, this is Arthur Dent."

Claira looked at him. "Hi."

"Hi? Another human being and all you can say is, hi?"

She dodged past them. "Well, what else do you want me to say, Ford? Greetings fellow human, it's just you, me and Trillian against this whole wide universe, so lets boogie, ha?"

"Claira!" Ford said looking at her.

"So, where's the breakfast?" She said looking up.

Ford stared at her then at Arthur with his mouth slightly open. He clicked his fingers once and moved around him.

"May I apologise for my daughter in advance, Arthur. She's been out of circulation for over two years now. No parents to give her a steady hand to, to guide her. Thankfully I am here now and well, need I go on?"

Claira stared at him as she sat down and Ford followed Arthur into the kitchen area. She shook her head and praised herself for finally being alone.

Ford looked back at Claira sitting quietly then looked at Arthur attempting to extend his breakfast ration for two more mouths. "Here Arthur, let me help."

"What does Claira like?"

"Ha?"

Arthur looked at him. "Claira? What kind of breakfast would she like?"

"Oh anything and everything, knowing her."

"I don't."

"What?"

"I don't know her and erm, come to think of it, I don't think you do either. How long has she been away from you now?"

Ford looked away and sighed. "Two years, two depressingly boring years."

"For who?" He said watching him.

"She left me Arthur, not vice versa. I offered her the cherry and she…"

"She took the apple." He said checking the tea was presentable.

"I offered her my life, Arthur, my life to her. Anything and everything I see, feel, know and she goes and joins a far out junky on a space hop."

"Would you mind helping me in with this, it's a little heavy for my arms."

"Sure" He said taking the tray and walking back in to see Claira hovering around the so-called living area.

"Well, it's about time. Mickey Mouse was about to strike lunch." She said tapping her watch and looking at Ford. "American, not Japanese." She added smirking.

Ford grabbed her wrist. "You got that off a stall in the Hitch Hiker offices for a fake Ningie because you didn't have enough small change to go around. Ursa Minor made, not American!"

She looked away. "He knows everything!"

"Everything about you, yes."

"How? You haven't seen me in over two years."

Arthur sat down and watched them talking. He decided to let them carry on arguing and started to pour out three cups of tea.

"I've had you under surveillance, my girl. Don't think that I didn't know where you were every second of every day that we were apart."

"If you knew where Claira was, then why has it taken you over two years to take this step forward to be with her? You must have had a chance many times before, Ford." Arthur said starting to tuck in to his breakfast.

Ford looked at him then grabbed for his plate. "I just didn't think that back then it was right to… I found her on a sub etha band talking about the Vogon's of all things…."

"Found her? I thought…?"

Claira chuckled. "Great one Uncle Arthur, he's got you there, Ford."

"No he hasn't. I knew where you were well before then." Ford stopped and looked at Arthur and Claira looking at him. "Well, maybe six months before… three… alright, last week!"

"Thank you." Claira said grabbing her cup and looking in to it. "What?"

Arthur looked at her. "Tea."

"Tea? Haven't you got any coke?"

"Claira, this isn't Mac Donald's, like it or lump it." He said sipping at his cup and looking away in disgust at the taste.

She grabbed her plate and picked at it. "I might just order a take out over the sub etha."

"On my card, think again."

Claira took out another card and waved it under his nose. "My card."

He now grabbed it from her small hand. "Now mine! Hey, this is a gold card. How did you get hold of this?"

"Don't ask." She said looking away.

He looked at the card then put it in his jacket pocket.

"Hey dad, that's worth something, you know."

"Yes, to the right person."

"Yeah me, so hand it over." She said holding out her hand.

Ford took her hand and then pushed her back into her seat. He then turned to Arthur. They finished their so-called breakfast. Claira looked at Arthur then Ford and yawned.

"Claira, do you have to?" He said watching her.

"What?"

"We're in company."

"Sorry, I've never been within company before."

"Just look interested."

Claira now sat up and watched the adults every move, which was hardly worth writing home about.

"Once we're finished here Arthur, I'm taking Claira back to the offices to allow her to meet up with Trillian."

"Really?"

"Great, does that mean that we're finished here, dad?" She said standing up.

"No, now sit down."

She looked at him then shook her head and sat back down.

"I was wondering if you wouldn't mind coming back with us?"

Claira looked at Ford. "Hurh?"

Ford looked at her then got up and moved over to sit next to her and took her hand. "We were wondering if you wouldn't mind…."

Arthur looked at him then went out into his so-called kitchen area. Ford looked at Claira then jumped up and followed him into the back. Claira let them talk and moved outside to look at the area now beginning to get busy. She looked out to a hill in the distance and started to head towards it.

Ford looked at Arthur clearing his area.

"Arthur."

He looked back. "Your still here? I would have thought with the way that Claira is…"

"Look, lets forget Claira for the minute…."

"Like you have for the past two years?"

"What?"

"Claira is your daughter, Ford. If you really cared for her in the way your trying to now then why didn't you go after her in the beginning?"

Ford looked away. "She hurt me Arthur."

"Hurt? Hurt you? In what way?"

"In every way imaginable. She didn't trust me. How can I trust her after two years when she didn't even trust me, back then?"

Arthur moved away. "Why would you want me to go back to the offices with you?"

"To meet Trillian."

"Meet Trillian?"

"A-ha."  
"Is that all?"

"Well, yes."

"I see, the well, being?"

He looked down. "Claira."

"Oh I get it, a little human support. She has all the support that she can get, Ford, from her father. That's if you still want to be her father?" He said looking at him with the leading question still poised on his lips.

"Of course I still want to be her father, nothing short of that, but…" Ford stopped and sighed. "I don't know, Arthur. I guess it's not as easy as I thought it would be in the beginning, being a father and I think that's Claira's fault because she…" Ford again stopped in mid sentence shrugging his shoulders.

"Claira left that night basically because she was scared, nothing else, Ford. You told her that the Earth was going to be destroyed the next day. If I had had prior knowledge that my home was going to be destroyed the next morning by the Vogon's to make way for a new hyper space by-pass I would have caught the first hippy ship out of the universe too and left you to it. Just be grateful that you've found her again and that she is still young enough to sit up and listen to you. That is if you really want to carry on being a family." Arthur said then went out.

Ford stayed in the back for a while then went out to the street where Arthur was. He noticed that he was looking towards the hill.

"Fancy the walk?" Arthur said turning to look at him.

"Walk? Walk where?"

Arthur pointed to the hill behind the town. "Up there. That's where I crash-landed the Heart of Gold and that's where your daughter is now."

Ford looked at his hand pointing into the hills then back at Arthur.

**CHAPTER 11**

Claira wandered around the burnt out wreck of the Heart of Gold. It sat precariously on a ledge over looking the town. She looked over to see two figures making their way up the hill and realised who they were. She sighed and sat down picking up some grass and watching it move in the slight breeze around her.

Ford reached the crash sight first slightly looking at Claira as he moved around the wreck. Arthur now moved up to the ship and held onto it for some stability.

"I must sit down. My legs aren't as good as they used to be. The crash took its toll on me in a physical way." He said sitting down and catching his breath and rubbing his knee.

"Really, what happened?" Claira asked sliding forward.

Ford now moved in to sit next to her and stop her moving any further forward. "Claira, just enjoy the view. It's lovely up here." He said directing his gaze over the valley.

She looked at him then turned away.

Arthur watched this. He then looked at the remains of the Heart of Gold. "She was a lovely ship."

"Yeah. Does Zaphod know? I mean, know that you crashed it?"

"I shouldn't think so. I don't exactly have a portable link to him and the crash didn't get out on any sub etha wave band alerts."

"Well, it's just as well then." Ford said turning away, which just happened to be into Claira's view.

"When is the next freighter due to arrive here?" She said checking her watch.

"Not for another two days. I have to make special arrangements…"

"Two days? Special arrangements? Ford!"

"Transporters never come out this far." Arthur said looking at them.

"Do you know how far we are from any space lane?" Ford said folding his arms.

"How far?" She said looking to him.

"Too far. Take my word for it."

"If you can't take your fathers word for it, then you can take mine." Arthur said looking at her.

Claira looked at him then Ford and shook her head. "I don't believe this, I don't believe what I'm hearing." She said jumping up and turning to face the adults now in front of her. "Two days? When I was on a shoot once the catering facilities were up in arms because their crusty rolls were a day old. I wouldn't have minded except they left their offices just next door before the last ice age!" She added now turning around to kick the ship, then limping away muttering to herself.

Ford watched her go then looked at Arthur. "You see now why I need you with me!" He said pointing towards her.

Arthur looked at him then Claira wandering around in the foreground.

The sun now started to move behind the hill that they were sitting on and the breeze now began to give a slight chill to the area. Claira noticed this almost immediately and moved back behind the craft for the last breath of warmth. This just happened to be where Arthur and Ford were sitting and at that moment Ford's lap looked very inviting. She moved up to him and watched him. Arthur realised what she wanted and quickly nudged him.

"What?" He said looking at him then watched him gesture towards Claira and slowly looked at her as he realised. "Oh, of course." He said allowing Claira in and on to his lap.

She placed her head on to his chest and closed her eyes moving her head to cover her face with his jacket. "Hmmm." She said softly.

Ford looked down at her now feeling almost at one with her then looked at Arthur who was looking on approvingly.

Arthur looked at his cracked watch then at Ford slowly caressing Claira and didn't want to spoil his enjoyment of the moment. He decided to use the wind that had now blown up a bit more to distract him.

"Brrrr, that's now starting to get annoying," He said shivering.

Ford looked up and around the area. "Yeah erm, maybe we should be getting back." He said thinking of Claira as he rose to his feet while trying to keep her from waking up.

They went down the hill towards the town and back to Arthur's hut. Ford immediately sat down at the first seat he came to and held Claira even closer than ever. Arthur came back out with some kind of purple liquid in a small glass.

"Here, try this." He said handing him a glass.

"What is it?" He said taking the glass from him.

"Some kind of intoxicating spirit. It's rather nice, I think."

Ford looked at him sipping it then sitting down watching him. He looked at the contents in the glass and put it down. "Maybe later." He said going back to looking at Claira asleep so silently on him.

Arthur picked up one of the many flyers that were dotted around the place and started to study its pages. Ford watched him then looked at the liquid contents in the glass beside him and slowly picked it up and took a sip. He swallowed the contents and felt the liquid seep down his throat. He now looked at Arthur who was looking at him. He put the glass back down.

"Alright?" He said watching him.

"I'll tell you when I wake up, hopefully in the morning." He said settling down.

Arthur smiled and closed his eyes.

Ford moved in the chair that had become his bed that morning and realised that he was alone. He jumped up and looked around.

"Claira!" He said as the purple liquid contents that he had drunk that night reached his head and he held it wavering slightly. "Claira." He repeated now more softly in a tone that did not upset him.

Arthur now appeared from the back carrying a tray. "Well, good morning."

Ford focused in on him. "Arthur?"

Claira now walked in from outside carrying some papers. "Is this what you wanted, Uncle Arthur?" She said moving over to him but soon found herself looking at Ford still concentrating on standing upright.

"These will do fine, darling." He said then looked at Ford. "I can see your not used to that drink."

"Not used… I only took one sip!"

"That's enough." He said moving away.

Claira followed him.

"Claira, Claira wait."

She stopped but did not turn round.

Ford moved up to her. "Erm, good morning." He said attempting to kiss her.

She stepped aside. "Hi."

He looked at her then watched her follow Arthur in and looked down. He moved back to the seat and sat down holding the back of his head.

Arthur slowly looked at him from the back room then looked at Claira. "You could have acknowledged him, you know."

"I said hi, Arthur. What more does he want?"

"He's your father."

"He's drunk!" She said pointing back.

"Well, at the moment he's a drunk father but the drunk part of your father won't last long, meaning he's still your father."

"Is he?" She said quietly.

"I beg your pardon?" Arthur said looking at her.

She moved away.

Ford slept for a while longer then awoke a little more aware of his surroundings and stood up.

Claira came back into the room joking with Arthur. She stopped and looked at him. "Oh, your awake."

"I am, yes." He said looking around then back at her.

Claira looked back to see that she was all-alone as Arthur had decided to leave them to talk. She sat down on a completely different seat. Ford stepped forward and moved in next to her.

"Erm, I think that that was Arthur calling me." She said attempting to get up.

"No it wasn't." He said stopping her.

She now found herself looking at him.

"Would you mind telling me what has changed since yesterday?" He added watching her.

"Nothing."

"Oh, so you decide to hold me in contempt every other day and expect me to just deal with it, ha?"

"No!"

"Then what it is Claira?"

"You were spark out when I awoke this morning and Uncle Arthur…" She stopped and looked away not sure what to think, whether she was right to carry on this conversation or not.

Ford looked at her and then slowly reached for her hand. "Darling, I'm sorry, but…" He looked away. "I thought that I had tasted everything in the dictionary, but that liquid last night…." He shook his head. "Never again." He said then stood up and moved to the entrance.

Claira quickly followed him and looked up to watch him surveying the street outside.

Ford now looked down and brought Claira round to stand in front of him.

"Can we start again?"

"I guess, yeah."

He bent over and kissed her. "Good morning darling."

She now smiled and hugged him. "Morning daddy."

He spun her round. "Hmmm." He said closing his eyes.

Ford made some enquiries about transporters heading out this way. He moved outside and looked at Claira standing patiently with Arthur keeping a tight hold of her hand. He moved up to them and took her from him.

"Any news?" Arthur asked.

Ford touched Claira then looked at him. "Hurh, erm, yeah… erm, a transporter is heading out here tomorrow night."

"Tomorrow night?"

"Yes, tomorrow night, so we have one more day to spend here." He said looking at Arthur while keeping hold of Claira.

"Well, that's alright then." Arthur said walking away.

They went back to Arthur's hut and tried to relax. Ford watched Arthur with the purple liquid in his glass again. Ford looked at Claira who was also looking at him as he sipped at its contents.

She moved closer to Ford. "Are you sure that he's human?"

"Positive."  
"I mean, I never met him when we were on Earth, as you know…." She said looking at him then realising that he was staring at her. "Erm, yes you do know." She said looking away.

Ford allowed Claira to move in next to him for a hug. She slowly fell asleep.

Then next day Arthur was busy packing a small case. Claira walked in to watch him.

He looked up and other to her. "Are you alright, Claira?"

"Erm, yeah. Are you sure you need all that stuff, Uncle Arthur?"

"Well, considering that all I had with me the last time I went for a short trip outside a planet was my dressing gown I thought that I better be more prepared. There's no telling what kind of transport your father has managed to find for us, is there?"

Claira watched him packing. "My father, yes." She said moving away.

Arthur stopped and watched her leave.

That evening Ford was looking at his device for scanning the space above the planet. The light started to flicker like it did that night Claira left him. Claira now noticed this and looked down.

"Erm, anything yet?" She said pretending not to see the device alerting him to a movement in the space fabric.

"There's a ship just entering these co-ordinates."

"No kidding?" She said moving forward.

He stepped back realising that this device was the one thing that took her away from him. "Do you mind, it's scanning."

She looked at him. "That button is flashing."  
"So it is."

"I don't think Uncle Arthur is ready."

"Just because the device is telling us that the ship is ready for us, it doesn't mean that we will be accepting its offer, just yet. I'm not as impatient as my off spring." He said staring at her.

She looked away disgusted with his words but soon realised she was more disgusted with herself.

Ford headed back in to the hut. "Arthur?"

Claira looked around.

Ford and Arthur now appeared.

"The ship is here, now?"

"Yes." Ford said getting them in position.

"Not too impatient I see then, father." She said sarcastically.

He stared at her as he pressed the device as their transmit was accepted.

Their next vision was of a large green field with trees and birds flying around them.

"What?" Claira said stepping forward.

Ford grabbed her back. "Wait a minute!" He said looking around.

"Is this a ship or a planet?" Arthur asked looking out as far as his gaze would allow him.

"Both, as a matter of fact." A female voice said behind them.

The three spun round almost instantaneously to see Trillian standing in front of them. Random moved nervously behind them looking down at the ground kicking the soil with her shoes.

"Trillian…? Wasn't you back at the offices the last time I called?" Ford said moving forward.

"That's right Ford, I was."

"Well, what?" His questioning was temporarily put on hold as another familiar voice filled the air.

"Ford…! Well, long time no see." Zaphod said forging past Trillian and grabbing Ford for a hug.

Claira stepped aside and watched them while sort of looking for solace from Arthur. Trillian now obliged and took her hand leading her on to some kind of patio area.

"Darling, come and tell me what you've been doing with yourself since we last talked." She said sitting her down on a chair. She noticed that Claira was still looking at Ford with Zaphod. "Oh, don't you worry about them two, they're going to be at that for hours. Family, you know?"

She looked down. "No, not really."

Trillian now watched Ford with Zaphod.

Arthur got reacquainted with Random, which kept him occupied for the rest of the evening. Trillian stayed with Claira as Zaphod finally finished his initial meeting with Ford and moved up to the patio area.

Claira stood up and attempted to move out to them.

"I wouldn't darling, not just yet. You might not be ready for Zaphod." She said after her.

Claira stopped and looked back. "I have had to deal with Zaphod before, Trillian."

"Not when he's like this."

Claira let her words sink in to her then turned back and sat down under the shade of the patio umbrella.

Ford and Zaphod now sat down at the table. He now became aware of Claira sitting across from him watching every move he made, viciously.

"My god, darling. Why didn't you? Zaphod, erm, this is Claira… erm have you?" He said pointing to one another.

"Oh yes… about two months ago now, wasn't it, Uncle Zaphod?" Claira said moving forward over the patio table to shake one of his three hands.

Zaphod stared at her and scratched his heads. "Claira? Claira? Oh yeah I remember; erm, yeah, now you come to mention it. Erm, the sub etha radio band, I was trying to keep my face off the airwaves and you were trying…" He said clicking his fingers and pointing at her.

Claira nodded like the nodding dog on the parcel shelf of some ones' old banger in full recognition. "Yes, yes, that's right Zaphod, regarding the Vogon's."

"Oh Claira, please this is a reunion, lets not spoil it now." Ford said trying to laugh off the situation.

"Who me? Spoil it? Well, excuse me." She said pushing the chair back and leaving them to it.

Trillian looked down and sipped at her drink.

"So, tell me Ford, where are you heading?" Zaphod said grabbing three drinks all at once.

Ford looked at him with his mouth wide open.

"I'll erm, just check that she's…" Trillian said moving to get up.

Ford now rose to his feet. "No, Trillian, thanks, but I think that I should handle this."

"As you wish." She said taking up her seat again and grabbing her glass.

Ford walked into the sort of living area that made up the next part of the ship. He looked around then found Claira in the kitchen.

"Some ship, ha?" He said deciding to use decoy tactics to find out how she was.

She looked back and sighed. "Hmmm." She said then moved away.

Ford stopped her. "Are you okay?"

"Okay? What kind of a word is that?" She said moving herself physically away from him as a response to his words.

"A worried one. I'm your father, remember, I'm responsible for you." He said making sure he stayed well in her eye line.

"Oh Ford, please, not now, not this late in the game, ha?" She said sarcastically then went back out to the so-called living area where everyone else was.

Ford looked at her through the patio doors as the obvious answer to his question again crossed his mind. He shook his head wildly and moved back out to join the others watching Claira as he tried to relax and think good thoughts.

**CHAPTER 12**

Random Dent left the patio area and moved back in to the covered part of the ship. She sat down in front of a large perspex box and pressed a sequence of buttons as certain commands appeared on the overhead screen.

Ford got up and poured out another drink for himself. He slightly looked up at Random with the computer terminal then at Claira who was listening attentively to Trillian and Arthur. He now quickly took himself and his drink into the covered area and up to Random. She looked up at him looking down.

She acknowledged him then carried on pressing the buttons. Ford moved around the screen looking over to Claira as he went.

"Something wrong, Ford?" Random asked while still interested in the screen.

He now looked at her. "Wrong? Erm, no, nothing is wrong, Random." He said then went back to looking at Claira.

She stood up and touched him. "I wont tell Claira, if you don't." She said looking on.

"Hmmm? " He said now concentrating on her.

"The transmitting device. I know about Claira and you, how she feels. Dad told me."

"Did he?' He said stepping away. 'Arthur has a big mouth.'"

"She will stay, wont she Ford, I mean here, with us, with you?" She said again grabbing hold of his arm.

"Random, please…." Ford said stepping aside.

"Yes Random, please, don't stop. You're just about the kind of age my old man goes for."

"Claira!" Ford said raising his voice, which brought Arthur and Trillian rushing in.

"What's going on?" Arthur asked looking on.

Claira looked at him then Ford. "You tell me." She said then went back out onto the patio area.

"Claira, wait," Ford said after her.

Arthur watched him run after Claira then turned to Random and folded his arms. "Well…?"

She looked away, finding a fly buzzing around the room to concentrate on.

Claira jumped onto the patio seat and noticed a glass of purple liquid and slowly lent forward and picked it up. She moved the glass under her nose and sniffed at it then began to place the glass onto her lips and tip the contents towards her mouth.

"Take one sip from that glasses contents and I will not be held responsible for my actions." Ford said hovering over her.

She looked up. "What actions would they be then, Ford?" She said allowing the purple liquid to enter her mouth.

Ford moved in front of her holding a sub etha radio in his hand waving it in front of her. Claira kept the contents of the purple liquid swirling around in her mouth.

"If you want to know why I am holding this radio in front of your face then I would consider spitting out that drink before you are forced to swallow it and forget the next three days."

Claira stared at the radio then thought of the drink in her mouth. She watched Ford then the radio in his hand. She turned away and spat out the drink. Wiping her mouth she looked up at Ford looking down.

"Thank you." He said then moved away.

"Hey, wait, Ford!" She said rising to her feet.

"What?" He said choosing not to look at her as he played with the radio.

She now took a step around him and moved under his eye line.

"The radio."

"Ha?"

"Dad, you made me spit out my first taste of a pan galactic gargle blaster and you…." She said putting her hands on her hips.

"First?"

"Yes dad, first!" She said now looking at the radio.

They stared at each other.

Claira looked away first.

"Dad."

He looked down at the radio. "Half an hour." He said pushing it towards her.

She smiled and took the radio from him. She looked at the dials then back at her father.

"Thanks, Ford."

He nodded and moved away.

Claira jumped back on to the patio chair and scanned the frequencies.

Ford sat down opposite watching her every move but could not shake the nagging feeling that the radio was just a pacifier at that stage. He looked away and tried to relax.

Arthur came out onto the patio with a light sandwich. He sat down slightly to the left of Claira watching her. He noticed the radio and looked straight to Ford.

"An olive branch?" He said directing his voice to make Ford look at Claira.

"Dummy." Ford said now looking at him.

"Oh, I see, a trade off. The radio for her attentiveness."

"In not so many words."

"Good call. How long do you expect it to last?"

"Forever, if I have anything to do with it." He said now looking at her again.

They both looked at her.

"What are you two talking about?" Claira asked now looking up from the radio.

"Pacifiers. Arthur, do you want a drink?" Ford said moving forward in his chair.

"Thanks Ford, but I already had a drink earlier." He said finishing his sandwich and sitting back.

"I nearly had a pan galactic gargle blaster earlier, Uncle Arthur." She said going back to the radio.

"Nearly?" He said first looking at Claira then Ford.

"Olive branch." Ford said looking on.

Arthur acknowledged him then went back to resting in the chair.

Claira looked at him then Ford who was smiling at her. She gave a worried smile then went back to her pacifier.

Ford had sorted out his own little area of the ship. Claira walked around the passageways and recognised a door and slowly opened it. She looked around what, to her looked like a quaint suburban living room.

"Welcome home." Ford said walking out from another part of the room.

"Excuse me?" She said watching him walk in and take a seat in front of her.

He looked around. "Home… reproduced exactly from memory. It might need a little filling in here and there, it has been two years, but I think that…."

"Hang on a minute dad, you hated home, Earth! Why have you gone to all this trouble and recreate our home on Earth when…." She stopped as her mind answered her own question then turned away.

He jumped up. "Darling, it's home, your home with me, your father. Isn't this what you've always wanted?" He said looking around.

She looked at him then shook her head and went back out.

Ford quickly followed. "Well, what's the matter now?"

"You just don't get it, do you Ford?"

"Try talking to me and just maybe I will."

She stopped and looked down. "Talking?"

Ford watched her. She turned round and faced him.

"It would never work, Ford. I made a mistake that day when I, when…."

"You don't seriously believe that?"

"Yes, I do."

"Your nine years old. You don't know what is right or wrong, what is right for you."

"I'm not right for you. I've come to realise that."

"You don't know that. What makes you arrive to that conclusion?" He said folding his arms in front of her.

She looked at him. "Your not human."

"True, but hardly a basis to conclude that you and I could never be a family."

"I'm not looking for a family atmosphere. I think that you can see that, dad."

He looked at her and smiled. "No, of course your not. All right, points taken you don't want a family atmosphere. I'll consult the computer on some alternatives to a safe haven in the morning. But, in the meantime…" He said holding out his hand.

She looked at it then slowly took his hand and he led her back to the room and to an awaiting bed.

**CHAPTER 13**

Garth shuffled through a small doorway in his cabin to enter an array of television screens and black and white flashing buttons dotted all over a large consul.

"Oh, sir, I wasn't, wasn't expecting you today." A technician said moving around his ample frame to take up his position in front of the screens.

"Obviously." He said watching the technician fumble for his notes. "You promised me results Bharg, I'm waiting." He said using the doorframe to keep him from sagging down even further into the small room.

"Results? The child! Yes, yes!"

"The human child, Claira Prefect! I wanted her exact location by today and your best ideas on how to get her back. What have you come up with?" He said again watching the technician fumble for his notes.

The technician pressed a black button on the white panel as a screen came to life.

They both looked up to see the ship that Claira, Ford, Arthur, Trillian, Zaphod, Random and Marvin were now on. It moved through the rooms to focus in on Claira sleeping in her bed.

"Brilliant. Their own security cameras beam back the perfect opportunity for me to strike. You know what I want done."

"How can you be sure that the child, the human, will take the bait? She seems very taken by this Prefect character. Her father…."

"There is only one thing that will part them at the very root of their so called relationship. You have your orders, I expect you to carry them out to the letter."

"At once, Garth." The technician said pressing a white button on a black panel. He shyly looked at the hulk move back out to a less cramped area then at the screen of Claira sleeping silently as he looked at his finger poised over the buttons on the consul.

Ford moved out to the main area where everyone else was relaxing in his or her own way. Random noticed him first and trotted up to him.

"Claira asleep?"

"Yes, finally."

"I was like her, some years ago now, though." She said looking down.

Ford looked at her. "Is that so?"

"Oh yes Ford, you see, I've read about it, they have these phases you know." She said looking back to her parents.

Ford followed her gaze back. "Phases?"

"Ignore her Ford, Random is always in a phase." Trillian said looking at her.

"Never in phase, if you ask me." Arthur said looking up from his book as he turned a page.

""She didn't, Arthur, okay!" Random snarled then tried to lead Ford away to her corner.

"Erm, Random please, if you don't mind…." He said stepping away.

Random watched him. "I just thought that you'd like to talk. You know, a more intelligent chat."

"Who's taking bets on the intelligent one?" Trillian said behind them.

"Ignore her, Uncle Ford."

"I think that I'd better retire. I am quite tired myself." He said looking at Trillian as he left.

"Was it something I said?" Random said moving forward.

Trillian and Arthur looked at one another and nodded.

Ford found himself back in his pro-created suburban dwelling. He moved to his own room and laid down staring at the ceiling.

Claira awoke fresh some hours later. She checked her watch that gave her London time in high summer but realised that this meant nothing to her at that stage. She moved to the door and opened it to sniff the air.

"No unusual smell of breakfast, he's probably still in bed. Typical Ford Prefect, what am I talking about? I hardly know him." She looked down. "You hardly know your own father, Claira Prefect." She realised that she was facing a mirror that was sort of throwing this image of a child with seemingly no future except for what Ford Prefect had laid out for her and was about to lay out for her. Her own coward ness now took over and she moved back into her room shutting the door and hiding under the covers.

Ford jumped up with the slam and looked around. He got up and went out to the landing and now noticed the same mirror Claira had just been looking at. But now, a different image was being reflected. Ford moved to Claira's door and knocked on it.

"Claira?"

She jumped up from the covers. "Hah, dad!" She now jumped down and ran to the door fumberling for the handle as she turned it and the door opened. Ford stood in front of her.

"Good morning." He said as he was now bowled over by her. They ended up on the opposite side of the hall. Claira closed her eyes and smelled her father in front of her like a gardener smells every plant in his garden.

They stood there for, what to Ford seemed like an eternity. He now looked down and slightly coughed.

"Erm, darling."

"Shooosh, daddy. I want to savour this moment."

"Savour? Do you, really?" He said taking Claira's remark the wrong way and pushing her away. "Why? You don't think we'll ever get another moment like this?"

"Every moment Ford, especially this one." She said touching his hand.

He pulled it away. "It's probably time for breakfast. We'll see if the others are up and we can join them. I don't fancy making breakfast for just the two of us."

"That's alright. Marvin's cuisine is quite good." She said trotting off towards the main area.

Ford watched her go, staring at her as she went.

Zaphod grabbed a whole plate of flapjacks and sat down tucking the tablecloth into his suit as Claira waltzed in with Ford bringing up the rear.

"Morning everyone." Claira said looking around the table.

Everyone looked up at the bubbling Claira Prefect then straight at Ford for an answer. He moved over to the cereal bar and looked around.

"You sound to be in a good mood this morning, darling." Trillian said looking on.

"Hmm, yes I do, don't I, Trillian? The rest has done me the world of good. What's on the menu?"

"Take your pick. It's American breakfast week." Arthur said looking up.

"Meaning?"

"Meaning, you order one thing and six courses turn up to accompany it."

"A-ha, cool!" She said sitting down.

Ford looked back in bewilderment. "You seriously understand that?"

She looked at him, shrugged her shoulders and answered. "No, but I'm willing to learn." She said grabbing a plate.

"You'll have cereal." He said moving forward with two bowls of cornflakes."

"Ford, if Claira wants a cooked breakfast she's perfectly entitled to, she is…." Trillian looked at him then Claira who was watching her. "Maybe it's not my place to…"

Ford plonked the bowl down in front of her. "Milk?"

Claira looked at him and slightly nodded. She watched him pour the milk over her cereal. She picked up the spoon and started to eat the bowls contents.

The sub etha television played to itself in the background. Random finished first and jumped up to turn the sound up.

""Random please, we're still eating over here." Arthur said looking over to her.

"So?"

Claira now looked over to her as she now focused in on the television screen.

"Garth?"

Ford looked up and over to her. "Hah?"

"That's Garth. Hey, Random, turn it up." She said now rising to her feet.

"If you want to listen to the news you can take your bowl over there. We would like to finish our breakfast in peace." Arthur said from his book.

Ford looked at him. "Arthur!"

Claira now moved over to the screen. "He's talking about the Vogon's, I know he is."

The trigger word now hit Ford like a wet fish from Billingsgate Market. He rose to his feet and moved to stand behind his child.

"He's got a new reporter. She's going after the Vogon's. I knew it, I knew it!"

"Knew what?"

"He's like me dad. You get a sniff on a Vogon and there's no stopping him."

"You mean there's no stopping you. He's got you hooked. Can't you see he just wants you back? "

"Back, back where?"

"With him, Garth! Claira he has been after reporters for his seedy television station since, well, since before you were born. He tried to pick me up once. I was better than him though, that's how I got away from him. We've been at loggerheads ever since. Why do you think that I signed up for the guide, to get back at him? Now he's getting back at me because I have the one thing that matters to the Vogon's."

"And what is that, pray tell Ford Prefect?"

"You! A human child."

Claira looked at him. "I matter to the Vogon's? Don't you mean they matter to me? Dad, they destroyed…."

"Oh yes, I forgot that they destroyed your planet to make way for a new hyper space by-pass. I'd never have remembered that, child." He said stepping in front of her to block the screen.

"Hey, Ford… the screen." Random said pushing him aside.

Claira now concentrated on the screen again.

"Claira, come and finish off your breakfast."

"Yeah, later, Ford." She said moving to sit right in front of the screen.

"Now, child!" Ford said raising his voice.

She looked back at him.

Random moved forward to her. "How about considering legal action against him? I could help you with the case."

She looked at her then at Ford. She then shook her head and moved back to him.

"Thanks Random, but in all honesty we both know who's right and, I guess, who I belong to." She said looking at him.

"Now we have to show Garth that, which is going to test everything, even us." Ford said taking her hand.

Random shook her head. "Losers."

That evening the interview with the new intrepid reporter was shown again. Ford allowed Claira to watch the interview all the way through this time. Claira watched the screen intensely while Ford watched her.

"This is crass! Garth has really gone over the top this time. This kid is not going to lead you to the Vogon's."

"He probably already knows that darling. It's bait for the big fish, meaning you. He must know that you'd keep close to the radio and television alerts. He's feeding you Claira and your stupid enough to fall for it."

She looked back. "No I'm not."

"What, you mean your telling me that your not just a little bit interested in going back to Garth and starting up all over again? Find the Vogon's, teach them a lesson or two." He said looking at her.

"Garth has to know that I am now back with you and to stay with you. I'm not interested in going back out there and tracking down every single Vogon that may or may not have had their hand in destroying my home. My home is with you, wherever it may take us." She said moving up to him for a hug.

Ford held her but stared at the screen. He then looked at Claira in his arms as his nagging thought crossed his mind again.

Garth moved closer to the screen that showed Ford and Claira together.

"Yes, that's right Ford Prefect, you hold your child for now, but I will have my day and that day will rule over you forever." He said pressing a black button on the white consul.

Claira managed to get the radio for the rest of the evening as more news reports from Garth's company filtered out. One had a live show discussing the Vogon's and what Garth was proposing. Claira now became too involved and called the station from Ford's radiophone.

"Okay, thanks for your comments there. We now have a Claira Prefect on line. What do you have to say about the Vogon's, Claira?"

"Trace the call. Get me her number." Garth said from behind the Plexiglas.

"Hello, Claira, are you there?"

"Yes, I'm here. I was wondering if I could speak straight to your boss, Garth…"

"Hey, not even I can get an audience with the big boss man."

"Do you know who I am?" Claira said raising her voice.

"Erm, yeah, your Claira Prefect, what of it?"

"Talk to your boss, you'll soon find out who I am."

The DJ was soon told about her and Garth was brought into the studio.

Ford was checking on some dinner that Marvin was preparing when Arthur walked in with Random holding a sub etha radio.

"Ford…"

"Oh, hi Arthur, Random. Dinner wont be long."

"Uncle Ford, where's Claira at the moment?"

"Random, can I handle this, please. Ford is my friend and this has to be handled very delicately."

"Claira's on the sub etha radio, Uncle Ford."

"Random!" Arthur said staring at her.

"He had to know, Arthur."

Ford now grabbed the radio from her and turned up the volume.

Claira had just started talking to Garth.

"Good evening Miss Prefect, the company is really missing your presence…"

"Save the humour Garth, this isn't a social call. I know what your up to, the new reporter, the fresh hunt for the Vogon's…."

"Claira, you can almost smell them from here. They have a new hanger in the Beta belt. Your home is on the Beta belt…"

"My home is ZZ 9 Plural Z Alpha and at look what happened to it."

"Destroyed by the Vogon's to make way for a new hyper space by-pass. How many of our listeners are aware of that little fact, Claira?"

Ford looked at the radio. "Don't fall for it, Claira. You can rise above him."

"Ford, we have to stop her." Arthur said looking on.

"No, Claira has brought this on herself. She has to tell Garth where to get off, just like I did, or, or there is no future for us." He said looking at the radio again.

"Ford, Claira is a child. She has to find someone to blame for the destruction of The Earth. The Vogon's are her only choice. I also got stuck on this point as I'm sure you seem to remember."

"But, don't you see Arthur, she isn't really blaming the Vogon's on the inside. She's fighting herself for not being there when, when the Vogon's destroyed The Earth."

"For leaving you."

"Exactly. She could never forgive herself for that. Garth is only making it worse for her. Using the Vogon's as an excuse. He'll destroy her if he hasn't already. Claira has to realise that for herself. If I go in there now, it will be like that night I tried to…."

They all looked at the radio.

"Claira, you've seen before what I can offer you. What has the guide got that I haven't?" Garth said checking the options he had open to him.

"My father, whom I left the night before my planet got destroyed."

"You didn't even get to see your planet destroyed, then you must only have good memories of it. Look at who turned those memories bad, the Vogon's."

Claira looked away. "No, they helped but it was me that turned the memories bad, made me leave my dad that night. I'm only blaming the Vogon's because I can't go back there and change what I did. I know that if I could I would, in an instant."

"Claira, Ford Prefect is not your father. He's just a guy you met; you shared a day and a night with. You've been away from him for two years and look what fun you've had, with the station."

"Yeah, chasing my own tail. I could have been out there finding my father, instead of having that two-year gap, like that gap between my leaving the Earth, my home and it being destroyed. I've made too many mistakes already Garth and returning to you will only cause more mistakes. The reporter you've hired is a looser. Why don't you drop the Vogon's from your schedules, do us all a favour, ha? See you around, Darth."

"Claira? Claira Prefect, don't you hang up on me."

"She just has Garth. Get a life ha, better yet, get some exercise. Goodnight Garth." Ford said turning the phone off and looking at Claira in tears next to him. "Come here."

"Daddy."

They now hugged. They held each other for the rest of the evening.

"Ford."

"Yes, Claira."

"I think that I finally did it."

He looked at her. "Did what, darling?"

"Accepting that I belong with you and not…." She looked down at the radio.

Ford followed her eyes down and quickly pulled the radio out of sight. "Well, I could have told you that back home but well two years down the line isn't that bad, I guess we are together now, after all."

"Together, yes." She said thinking about Earth again.

Ford picked her up and carried her back to their area.

The security camera zoomed in on Ford carrying her back through the ship. The technician looked back at Garth staring at the screen. His hand hovered over the white button on the black consul.

"Sir."

"No!"

He moved back in his chair and gave out a load sigh. "It's pointless now! Prefect has won. He has won his child back. You must concede defeat."

"Never, not to him. Not to Claira Prefect, she is the ideal candidate!" He said watching Ford lay Claira down in her bed. "So delicate, so fake. He's not interested in her, not her true calling. She's a human!"

The technician looked at him then shook his head. "A human that has no idea of what is out here. In this galaxy."

"Merely a statement of fact. Not a death sentence, unless you count Ford in that genre."

The screen went off.

"Manipulate that ships controls. Bring it back to the Beta system."

The technician just stared at him.

"Did you hear me?"

"I hear you sir, but you are making a big mistake."

"A big mistake? Claira made the big mistake when she left me. The ink is not yet dry on the contract, we'll see who the human really belongs to." Garth said as he shuffled out to get wedged between the doorframes and fall asleep where he stood.

The ships course was now changed.

**CHAPTER 14**

It was three days before anyone noticed that the ships course had been changed. They wouldn't have noticed anything at all if it weren't for Random sitting out on the patio looking at the neon signs streaming by.

"Beta system this way. Yuk! Anyone fancy a course change?"

Zaphod now jumped up with her words. "Course change, where?"

"Take a look at the signs, why don't you. We're entering the Beta system. Hey, didn't we start out from there in the beginning?"

Zaphod focused in on the signs. "Ford!"

Claira looked up first from Ford's chest. "I think Uncle Zaphod is calling you."

"Well, he can wait, can't he, darling." He said kissing her.

Random now walked in. "I think you two better get out there."

"What does he want?" Claira asked.

"I don't know. There's a load of neon signs out there. What is it with this Beta system?"

Ford looked at her then Claira who immediately jumped up and ran out to Zaphod staring at the signs. Ford moved out to her.

"Didn't you know that we were going back to the Beta system, Zaphod?" Claira asked looking up at him.

"Hey, as far as I was aware the computer was set for deep space."

"Some deep space." Ford said looking on.

"Now come one guys, at least we can stock up on essentials before we kaboom back out of here." He said moving away.

Claira stared at the sign for the stations identification. Ford put his hands on her shoulders and looked down at her.

"Are you alright, kid?"

"Fine, dad, just fine. He doesn't give up, does he?" Claira now pulled away from his grasp and went back into the living area.

He watched her go then looked out at the sign flashing its aura over the ship.

Trillian now walked out to him. "I thought Random was joking."

"Does this look like a joke?"

"Maybe we could get out of here within the hour."

"No, it's too late. The pull from the star is too great. We'll have to dock."

"You'll have to face him?"

He looked at her then slightly nodded. Trillian touched him. Random looked on from the living area.

The ship docked at the spaceport. Zaphod ventured out first with Random, Arthur and Trillian taking up the rear.

Claira looked out from the hatch.

"His men must be all around here. Just waiting for a chance to…"

"Well, they have to get that chance first, which they wont. Trust me." He said taking her hand and leading her down the steps to the spaceport cafeteria.

Zaphod started to collect some refreshments and loaded the ship. Claira stayed with Random and Arthur as Ford helped Zaphod. Trillian moved through the spaceport and noticed one of the stations vehicles following her. She quickly moved to Ford's side.

"I think that we are about to be paid a visit."

Ford looked up and focused in on the vehicle pulling up. "It's about time."

The door opened and there before Claira sat Garth staring at her.

"Hmm, you look well, Claira."

"So do you, Garth. Which doorway did you crawl out of this morning?"

"Come back to the station and I'll show you."

She looked away.

His hand touched hers. "I'm serious."

"You just don't get it do you, Garth? She's not interested in you. She never really saw anything in you in the first place, except for when you dangled the Vogon's in front of her face." Ford said moving forward to stand next to her.

"Well, well. It crawled out of the woodwork. Took you two years Ford, but I see you ended up with the prize." Garth said looking at him. "Except the prize came with a get out clause. Sort of like her get out clause with the Earth, ha, Claira?" Garth said watching Claira's reaction.

"Why you!" She said charging forward.

Ford pulled her back. "The bait Claira, the bait!" He said trying to keep hold of her.

"No, don't hold her back Ford, I know how much she'd love to get her hands on me. We're so much like family, yes, darling?"

"What?" Ford said letting go of her looking down.

"Don't tell me that she didn't tell you? Oh how unfortunate. Well Ford, we know what she's like. Look at how you met her."

"You played that game with him? What's he got that I haven't?"

"At that time, the Vogon's." She said looking away.

"Oh really? Well, did you actually find the Vogon's at any point that you were with Garth?" Ford said now folding his arms and taking the usual stance that he always seemed to take.

Claira looked at Ford and was about to answer when she stopped and turned to face Garth looking on.

"Well, no, not exactly, because…" She stopped and looked at Garth.

"That's not the point here, Ford. The point I am trying to make and have Claira realise is that she signed a contract of agreement with me in order for her to go out there and search and locate the Vogon's for my stations many and very interested viewers."

"Of which she hasn't…" Ford said looking to Claira standing there with a puzzled look on her face.

"Yet!" Garth said staring at him.

"And she never will find the Vogon's in a way that will satisfy her Garth because the Vogon's were never the element that satisfied her in the first place."

Claira looked at Ford as he carried on talking.

"Claira could merrily search for the Vogon's for the rest of her life, if that's what she chose to do but she would never be satisfied even if every last one of the green slime was wiped off the map! She is just kidding herself when she thinks that this is all she needs to do to feel happy, safe, content, sure in her life! But, she'd just be denying herself what she really needs, a home, and a family. Something she's never had. " He said looking at Claira in front of him.

"Ford…" She said softly.

"I can give you that home Claira, that family, whichever, whatever way you want it. I don't care, just as long as you are with me." He said moving forward.

Garth now used one of his many weapons to hand and stopped them getting any closer. His large bulk.

They looked at him as he stood between them.

"She is my best reporter, she's a human, Ford, the last of her breed, are you going to deny my viewers that?"

"I think you better ask my daughter that question, Garth." Ford said now looking back to Claira who had not moved an inch in the last few minutes, mainly due to Garth's hulk.

"I have a signed contract!" He said pulling out the contract and waving it in front of her like a timepiece trying to mesmerize her at the eleventh hour to change her mind.

Claira now grabbed the contact and tore the pages in half and let the air ducts carry the scrap paper along on its gentle breeze.

Ford now took Claira's hand and pulled her around Garth towards him for a hug.

"Lets go home, ha?"

"Yeah…"

Garth stood on the landing bay as Ford and Claira walked up the ramp that led them back onto the ship.

The ship now powered away from the space dock and into space.

Garth sloped off to one of his TV trucks as the ship disappeared from view. His men now looked at him.

"Sir, we do have other reporters who are interested in the Vogon's… We do not have to deal with the human child anymore."

"No-one is more interested in the Vogon's than Claira Prefect. She will be back once their plans have been discovered and then she will realise who leads a more interesting life." Garth said moving to find that he was once again stuck in another doorway.

**CHAPTER 15**

The Vogon's now moved slowly through another sector in space that was not even charted at that point.

A Lone Destron Satellite Destroyer ship limped along beside it hoping for a jump-start from the Vogon's kick back.

"_We are now entering another uncharted area. This is sector ten on my charts and there are no satellites in this area. I scan nothing in the way of the Vogon's. Time to make my report, if I can use the Vogon's last set of powers leads to get this computer to work. Ah, there we go, now, whom can I contact? Ah yes, of course."_ The lone man on the Lone Destron Satellite Destroyer said pressing a transmit button.

A white light now came out of the base of the Vogon's ship as a whole sector was now wiped off the face of the Destron Satellite Destroyer only map.

Ford joined Zaphod on the patio to sip at another pan galactic gargle blaster as the stars shot past them.

Trillian grabbed a large hairbrush from her bag and moved over to Claira now nestling in the corner of the main ships living room. She pulled Claira towards her and started to brush her hair. Random watched them together.

"You've been quiet since we left the spaceport."

"Hmmm, yeah." She said allowing her to carry on brushing her hair.

"You've come all this way, two years away from Ford, now living with him again and you have never once told him how much you really needed him, how much you love him and could never envisage being apart from him." Trillian said now turning her head to face her.

"You don't tell someone who you ran away from that you love them."

"You didn't run away from Ford, you ran away from the Earth…"

Claira moved away from Trillian.

"Claira!" She said stopping her. "I also ran away from the Earth, remember? We both chose to abandon it before…" She looked away now putting the brush back in her bag.

"Ford knows the truth Trillian, nice try but it won't work."

"He's not interested in the truth darling, he's interested in Claira Prefect. I think maybe you should start living Claira Prefects' life." She said pushing her out in the direction of the ships patio.

Claira hovered by the door to the broken paving slabs of the patio. She looked down at the cracks as Trillian moved out dragging Claira with her.

"Not again Claira. You know that your father would never allow you to drink a pan galactic gargle blaster…Think of your age, darling." She said sitting down next to Zaphod.

Ford now jumped up out of his chair and turned round to watch her.

Claira stepped forward.

"I wasn't dad, really, I."

Trillian giggled beside Ford which made him look at her.

"Oh, I get it, the human thing. Fine, fine…" He said waving his hand and sitting back down on his patio chair.

Claira ventured out past the patio and looked at the stars rushing past.

"Claira, please, you're spoiling the view!" Zaphod said calling out to her.

"Zaphod, shush!" Trillian said nudging him.

She turned round and moved back behind them to see Random now by the patio window.

Arthur now walked out carrying The Book and a piece of paper heading towards Claira.

"Hi Claira."

"Hello Uncle Arthur."

"This came through for you from the Lone Dest, Destron, erm."

Claira grabbed the paper from him. "The Lone Destron Satellite Destroyer!"

"Yes, that's them." He said moving out past her to an available chair to carry on reading his book.

"Them? Don't you mean him?" Ford said looking at Claira holding the page.

Claira started to read the letter the looked up.

"Uncle Arthur, where is the communications room?"

"Down the hall. I've just shut it down the night."

"Shut it down? It's not like a computer where you close it down at the end of your session hoping that it doesn't wipe your files in the meantime." Claira said staring at him.

Ford grabbed the page from her and read the first few lines.

"Dad, I need to get in to that communications room."

"Not this evening."

"Hurh?"

"Your pen pal can wait."

"Pen pal? Maybe you should read on. He's reporting that the Vogon's have destroyed a whole sector."

"I can read, Claira. But I am not on def con three with the Vogon's, am I?"

"Oh, not again with the Vogon's, Ford, I thought that you had dealt with this little phase in her life." Zaphod said sipping at his drink.

"Little phase, Uncle Zaphod, what?"

"Zaphod is basically right, this is a phase with you. You have left your mark all over this universe with your sub etha transmissions. One word is uttered about the Vogon's and who ends up getting wind of it, you! No one else cares about them as much as you."

"This is a message from the destroyer, you know the destroyer that follows the Vogon's wherever they go." She said now grabbing the paper back from him.

"Oh well of course, the ship that took you away from the earth and me, come to think of it."

"Maybe we should let that ship have her back." Zaphod said looking on.

"Thank you Uncle Zaphod, but no. The invitation to join them on board was very welcomed for which I did take them up on, but their sales pitch is it for the company. At least they accept Hitch Hikers, unlike." Claira stopped and looked at Ford now starting to get disgusted with her explanation.

He looked away and sat down on the patio chair again.

Claira ran back in to the ship and to the communications room. She grabbed the mic hanging over the transmitting machine.

Trillian got up watching Ford.

"Ford?"

"Hurh?"

"Do you want a cup of coffee? Ford?"

"Alright, yeah, what else?" He said then got up and followed her in.

Trillian watched Ford move around the kitchen grabbing two cups from the cupboard and moving up to the table.

"You will have to do something about Claira and her fixation with the Vogon's"

"No kidding?" He said sighing.

"What have you and Claira got in common?"

"Well, we both hate the Vogon's."

"Are you sure its just Claira who has the problem?"

Ford looked at her.

"I'm sorry. Alright, tell me about how you two first met."

"How we first met? Hasn't Claira told you that one yet?"

"I'm asking Ford Prefect how he first met his daughter, not vice versa." Trillian said looking at him while pouring out a cup of strong black coffee.

Ford quickly grabbed the milk.

"I'll pour, shall I?"

Trillian sat down accepting her's as black as they came. She watched Ford take the sugar bowl and checked that the spoon had two large heaps of sugar on them and stirring them into his mug of white coffee.

"The last time Claira and I had a coffee break like this she did exactly the same as you. It's so uncanny, your worlds apart, the universe apart, but."

"But we are practically the same in our tastes."

"Yes." She said looking at him.

"I noticed that back at the spaceport and I guess I realised it back on Earth too." He said sipping at the mugs contents.

"Then why can't you help her understand that what she is doing is madness, Ford? We know that the Vogon's, if they ever caught Claira would have to kill her because they failed the first time. It's not just luck that has kept Arthur and my skin free from them. We just don't deal with them, but Claira, she's putting us all in danger with her vendetta."

"Maybe the Vogon's are destroying sectors now especially to trap her. They know that Claira has been following them thanks to Garth's station transmissions. The Destroyer is just another decoy."

"It's worth checking up on them."

"Exactly what Claira is doing now." He said jumping up and running down the corridor to the communications room.

Claira turned round to stare at him.

"Ford, erm, uncle Arthur has really shut this machine down. I can't get it to boot back up."

"Has he, well, lets see if I can't help you make some kind of contact with the destroyer, ha?"

"Make contact with the destroyer, but back there?"

"Back there I didn't realise that the Vogon's might be setting some kind of a trap for us, for you."

"A trap? In what way?"

"A big way. Using the destroyer to get you back to them."

"Dad, I'm not going to fall for the destroyer again, that ship was a nightmare." She said looking away.

"Getting a lift with the Vogon's doesn't rate any higher either, kid."

The radio now jumped in to life.

"Ah, here we go. Good, your uncle left it on the same transmitted co-ordinates. This won't take long."

"What won't take long? What are you trying to do?"

"Contact the destroyer for you, what else?"

"Hurh? Erm, dad I, I. Didn't you just hear what I said? What is this, my punishment here?"

"It should be for what you've been putting me through since you left me that night."

Claira moved to the back of the room that was a little darker and sat down in the shadows.

"Are you giving me up?"

"What?"

"Like they did on Earth, my real parents, the home that I was put in and kept running away from, because." She looked down.

"Give you up? Who to, the Destroyer, the Vogon's?" He said focusing in on the transmission frequency.

"I don't belong with you Ford, to you."

Ford pressed another button on the radio then spun round in his chair to focus on Claira hiding in the shadows.

"Now what are you doing over there?"

"I dun no, keeping out of the way of the firing line, I guess."

"The firing line? You think that I'd hurt you in any way?"

"Well, I know I've hurt you. Maybe you wanted to delve out a bit of punishment to me by actually delivering me straight to the destroyer or better still, the Vogon's." She said looking away.

"You'd actually think that I'd be interested in handing you over to either one of them?"

Claira did not look at him as she slightly nodded.

Ford sighed and turned the radio off as he stood up and moved into the shadows where Claira sat.

"Your really that naïve, aren't you?" He said pulling her up to stand in front of him. "Maybe you will never give up on trying to destroy the Vogon's for what they did to the Earth, our home we made together, but haven't you realised that they would never give up on trying to destroy every last human being alive, even a certain Claira Prefect. It's all they have to do with their time." He said kissing her. "They tried once with your uncle Arthur while we were on the Heart Of Gold. Their just waiting for you to walk on over to them and they'll have you. I bet they even paid Garth to keep you on his books. You would have eventually got to them and that would be the end for you. Two years down the line and they would have succeeded with destroying another human of whom their mission was to do in the first place, to destroy the Earth and every human being on the face of it. And where would you be then?" He said catching a tear that now fell from his child's eye.

"Would you have grieved for me?"

"Now what do you think? What do you think I did after you left me that night?"

She turned away and shrugged her shoulders.

"I dun no. I just saw the Earth for a brief second before the destroyer limped out of orbit. I never forgot that moment, the moment I left. The moment I left you." She said shyly looking back.

"Two years Claira, what we could have done together in two years of your precious life." He said turning her head back to face him.

"But, I'm here now dad, can't I ever make what I did to you that night seem meaningless now that we are together again?"

"Two years is a long time to try and forget that night Claira, especially when your reminded of what you have done in the meantime."

"The Vogon's." She said looking down and kicking the fluff on the shag pile carpet beneath her feet.

"I think that I could have left them behind by this time. Finally getting on with my life." He said moving away, back to the transmitter.

"Dad, we're talking about the Vogon's here, we can't just let them get away with what they did to our;"

Ford looked at her.

Claira now spun round and closed her eyes.

"I know it's confusing for you." Ford said checking the transmitter frequency again.

"It's not confusing, dad, I just forgot. I meant my planet, my home."

"Which is now gone."

"Yes!" She said turning back to look at him.

"But, I'm still here. Someone you met on Earth, someone you, no, you tell me, what did you think of me back then? As you said before, I was just like the others, someone that you could catch a quick meal off of, a bed for the night?"

"These things don't just pop into your head when you meet these people, dad. You take the chance and see where it leads you."

"Well, that chance has led you to me. When you finally left the destroyer did you fall back on those same chances, when you met Garth and he promised you the Vogon's on a silver platter? Did he realise what you were like before you signed the contract?"

"Why are you asking me all these questions dad, you know I can't answer them. It just happens, I've lived like this all my life, Claira Prefect, full stop!"

The transmitter now flickered into life and Claira stared at it then ran to Ford's side and leaned on to the table.

"The destroyer. That's its signal frequency." She said pointing to the registered number being displayed in front of them.

"I can read." Ford said grabbing her hand and pulling down to his side.

"_Claira Prefect? Claira Prefect, come in, please." _The only occupant of the destroyer said over the loud speaker slightly to the left of Ford and Claira.

"Well, aren't you going to answer it?" Ford said looking at her standing next to him very tense. "If this is too personal for you, I could. I mean, you spent six months with this guy, is this a record for you?"

"Dad!"

"Well, what am I to think?"

"_Claira Prefect? Are you on frequency?"_

"Are you?" He said getting up and allowed Claira to take his seat as he moved behind her watching the frequency indicator bounce from level to level.

Claira's hand hovered over the mic switch. She then spun round in her chair to face him.

"I guess I could just say hello."

"You could, yes, but is there any need to? Since when did he do you or me any favours?"

Claira spun back to look at the signal again understanding exactly what Ford meant. She pressed the on/off button as the signal died. She did not turn back, just looked down to the table and the floor below.

"Great. Now, I'm going to grab a bite to eat. Do you want to join me?"

"Can I just sit here for a while?"

"No!"

"Hurh?" She said looking up and turning to face him.

"I know what your like Claira Prefect! The minute my back is turned you'll be straight on that radio and back on that destroyer in seconds." He said clicking his fingers in front of her.

"That's not my intentions this time, Ford."

"Hmm. I'm not going to let you hang around here to find that out. Come on kid, home, now!" He said moving to the door and opening it to allow the natural light of the corridor bleed in to the room.

"Home?"

Ford looked down and sighed. He moved back up to her and picked her up.

"Home." He said kissing her and carrying her out of the room.

**CHAPTER 16**

The ship that carried Arthur, Ford, Trillian, Random, Marvin and Claira entered a new sector of space and sent an alarm through the whole ship to alert anyone that was interested.

Ford woke up as the noise was starting to get annoyed with it. He walked out of his bedroom and down to the kitchen.

"Finally, your awake." Claira said looking up from the sub etha radio she had found that morning.

"I couldn't just lie there anymore with that noise. Isn't Zaphod dealing with it?"

"Does it look to you like he is?"

Ford now took the radio from her.

"Seeing that your dressed would you mind going out to uncle Zaphod and…"

"Hurh, me?" She said pointing to herself.

"Yes, you and quickly please."

Claira moved to the front door looking back as she reached it.

"Why me? I mean, what have I got to do with this ship, and uncle Zaphod for that matter?"

"Go!" Ford said from the kitchen as he grabbed a slice of Claira's toast.

Claira went out and immediately heard Zaphod's voice coming from within the ship and moved over to it. Arthur was with him as Claira walked in to a medium sized room with another overhead computer in front of them.

"Anyone found the reset button yet?" Claira said trying to break the foul words being passed away at that moment.

"Zark off!" Zaphod said choosing not to look back.

Arthur turned back. "Oh hi, Claira."

"Hello Arthur. Something wrong with the computer?"

"No, just Zaphod. We can't get it to turn off that alarm you can hear."

"No kidding?" She said folding her arms in Ford's protective manner.

Arthur glanced at her position then looked back at Zaphod and the computer again.

Claira moved around the back of the screen and looked around. She used the wires coming from the screen to rise above the adults in the room at that stage.

She looked down at them.

"Hey, hi guys." She said using her free arm to wave at them.

"Get down from there." Arthur said looking up.

"Why don't we try pulling out all of these wires? It might help."

"It might help if you get off that screen and leave us alone." Arthur said moving around to pull her free from the wires.

Claira allowed Arthur to pull her off the screen and back to the ground.

"Dad sent me in here to get you to turn 'that' alarm off." She said looking skyward

"Did he?" Arthur said looking to Zaphod now hitting the computer with one of his heads. "Very productive. Come on, I'll take you back."

"But I want to stay, to."

"To, what?" Arthur said looking down.

She shrugged her shoulders.

"I dun no. To try and help with the alarm." She said looking back to the computer.

Zaphod now became totally incensed with the whole episode and stormed out. Arthur looked down at Claira and her hand clenched in his. He now let it go and watched her run back to the computer.

"What can you do that Zaphod hasn't already tried three times over?" Arthur said mulling over his words as he walked back to her.

"We'll soon find out." Claira said typing in some commands.

Ford finally got bored walking around the copy of his Islington flat and walked back out to the main ship where he found Zaphod pouring out a large glass of Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster and allowing his head to drink it as he munched on some nibbles he found in the corner. Trillian walked past him and out onto the patio area where Random sat reading one of Arthur's books. He looked back for any sign of Arthur and Claira but they were not in sight.

No one had noticed that the internal alarm that had been bothering them for the whole morning was now silent.

Ford found a spare chair and sat down looking to the stars.

Random looked up from her book and at the stars for which Ford was looking at. She slightly coughed to get his attention.

"Have you noticed, Ford?"

"Noticed what?" He said looking away and closing his eyes.

"We've changed position."

"Changed position?" He said looking puzzled but still keeping his eyes closed.

Random now jumped up, pulled her chair over to face him and placed the rather heavy book on his lap.

"Hey, Random, do you mind? I'm trying to relax here." He said now facing her.

"Take a look at the page, uncle Ford!" She said pressing down on the book in his lap.

"Uncle Ford, indeed." He said then looked at the page. "Am I supposed to understand this, here?"

"Yes! We've changed position since last night." She said grabbing the book back and jumping up to move away.

"Can I borrow that book after you, Random?" Claira said behind her.

"Hurh?" Random said spinning around to face Claira and Arthur standing slightly aback from her. "Well, I, um erm." She closed the book and looked down.

"Go on Random. It is my book after all."

"I know Arthur, but." She looked up then over to Claira.

"Okay, I see." Claira said moving away back into the main part of the ship.

Arthur watched her go then moved out to Random and then turned back to look at Ford.

"Erm, Ford. Maybe you should go and have a talk with her. What she's found out is of some interest."

"Is it? Then maybe you could fill us in then, Arthur. It sounds very interesting." Ford said folding his arms and looking on.

Claira sat in the living room and read some of the print outs she managed to acquire from the computer.

Ford walked in and moved to the kitchen. He looked at her through the serving hatch.

"Do you want something while I'm in here?"

"Like, what?" She said looking up.

"Like what?" He said looking around for something edible. He noticed a pan and some eggs on the side. "Breakfast?"

"At two in the afternoon?" She said looking at her Mickey Mouse watch waving the time at her.

"Erm," Ford said looking at the clock. "Yeah."

"Try something else dad, it's not working."

"What's not working?" He said now moving out to her.

"These subs defuse." She said looking up from the print out.

"Alright, well what do you suggest I try?" He said moving in next to her and leaning onto the backrest, putting his hand to his head to steady himself as he gleefully watched her.

Claira focused in on him then looked around the room.

"I dun no. Why are you asking me? You're the one that walked in here to try and find out what is going on."

"Well, what is going on?" He said now leaning into the back of the sofa and folding his arms slightly looking in Claira's direction.

"Nothing." She said looking down as she started to get edgy about the up and coming questions from Ford's mouth.

"Some big nothing." He said pulling her hand away to look at the print out.

"I'm going to my room." She said jumping up.

"Claira!" Ford said stopping her. "What have you discovered from that piece of paper?"

She looked down at the paper in her hand then at Ford staring at her.

"I know that this may sound stupid, it did to me when I first read it, but, say if this ship we were in was not really a ship."

"Come again." He said moving forward in his seat to make him look more attentive.

"Well, it is a ship, but it isn't. If you know what I mean."

"No, I don't." He said now grabbing the paper from her and started to read it. Ford read a few lines then looked at Claira and jumped up.

"Wait!" She said stopping him moving out to the patio area.

"What?" He said looking down.

"You're actually going to tell them? Tell, uncle Zaphod!"

"Tell 'your' uncle Zaphod what you have discovered about this so called ship, yes! Why not?"

"I dun no, I." She looked down and focused in on the shag pile carpet beneath her small feet.

"Watch, and learn." He said grabbing her hand and pulling her out on to the patio area.

"Hurh, watch and, what, from you? Ford!" She said trying to pull her hand away from his.

Ford waited for Claira to draw level with him to look down at her before attempting to approach Zaphod with the seemingly interesting news.

"Erm, Zaphod…"

"He won't be interested, you know." Claira said pulling at the edge of his blazer.

"Shoosh!" He said moving a step closer to Zaphod's patio chair in the do not disturb me for anything position. "Zaphod!" He said now in a louder voice that made everyone stop what he or she were doing and look at him, except, of course the person he was trying to attract in the first place.

"Something you've found, Ford?" Arthur said looking over to him.

"Hurh, oh erm, yes Arthur, something about this planet we're on." Ford said deciding to do his best in any way he could to get Zaphod to finally listen to him.

"Planet? Surely that's a typo. You mean ship, don't you uncle Ford?" Random said from behind Arthur's chair.

"No, he means planet, thank you very much Random!" Claira said stepping forward to come almost face to face with her except Random was taller than her so she slightly raised her head as she moved forward.

"Claira, darling." Ford said pulling her back to stand beside him. "I'm handling this."

"Not very well, if you ask me." She said under her breath.

Ford once again looked down at her as she looked up. They looked at one another for what seemed like an eternity to Claira but once again she looked away first to break his concentration.

Ford now realised that everyone, even Zaphod were now looking at them and quickly snapped himself around. He moved round to look directly at Zaphod who was using the silence to pour out another drink for himself.

"Do you want to read this now Zaphod? Or, shall I just carry on?" Ford said allowing the slight breeze from the air conditioning ducts to lightly flap the piece of paper in his hand around to proclaim even more to Zaphod of the news he had been waiting to tell him.

"No, no., you just carry on Ford." Zaphod said smiling as he allowed his drink to wash around his mouth like a mouthwash in the early hours of the morning.

"Told you he wasn't interested." Claira said lightly pushing Ford then turned tail and went back to the sofa back inside the room.

Ford watched her go then looked at the paper again and shook his head.

"Well, what's all this about?" Random said trying to look interested in what Ford had or indeed, had not to say.

Claira sat for some time in the living room going through the sub etha radio that she had found lying around.

Ford walked in still holding the piece of paper, which made Claira notice him.

"Given up yet, then, Ford?" She said sighing as another miss came back from her returned signal repeat.

"I never give up. You should know that of me, by now." He said then realised that she had the radio. He now grabbed it from her. "Excuse me!"

"Hurh? Hey!" She said reaching out for it.

"This is stuck in transmit. Are you that hell bent on getting away from me again or what?" He said throwing the radio to the other end of the sofa well out of Claira's reach.

"Actually I was thinking of staying!"

"What?"

"That planet out there. You know as well as I do that it's the new Earth that Slartibartfast was designing. He's failed twice already, first with the mice, then with…"

"We don't know anything of the sort."

"There's only one way to find out." Claira said rising to her feet to face him.

Ford looked at her then looked at the corridor behind her.

"Five minutes."

"Ten!"

"We're wasting time." He said grabbing her hand and pulling her off down the corridor.

They soon found themselves in the dark computer control room.

"Where's the light switch?" Ford said fumberling around.

"Shoosh!"

"Why are you shushing me for? I'm only looking for the light switch." He said finally finding it.

"Sorry dad, but I guess it's just something you say when you walk into a dark room. You know, if someone is waiting to, to well." She said looking at him.

"Really?" He said then noticed the computer behind her. "Maybe we should get down to business."

"Hurh, oh yeah, right!" She said moving to the console and taking a seat in front of the screen.

Ford hovered behind her, nervously.

"Care to sit down, Ford?" She said pulling out a chair.

"No thank you. I don't intend to spend that long in here."

"Yeah, but this might take some time to find out the information we need." She said spinning round in her chair.

"Then you better carry on, quickly please." He said checking his digital watch for whatever time it was displaying at that precise second.

"Alright." She said turning back and focusing in on the keyboard. "This is the sort of time that I wished I'd stayed with Trillian to take that typing exam."

"Why didn't you?" He said as he watched Claira use one finger to type in the commands, very slowly.

"Oh erm, you wouldn't be interested in why I didn't."

"No? Try me." He said now pulling out the chair to sit in next to her.

Claira looked at him then around the room.

"You know, it's amazing how big this room is, all the wires hanging out of every orifice."

"Don't change the subject." He said staring at her.

"Hey, I think I've found some information already." She said pointing to the screen.

The readout now displayed a list of ground rules and basic information for the planet. They both stared at it.

"Anything on Slartibartfast yet?" Ford said running down the legal document page.

"Of course not. This is just your welcome to your new planet stage. Here's a list of do's and don'ts. The biggest don't is not to give the location of this planet away to the Vogon's. Yes, there it is, see." She said pointing to the small print that was now getting even smaller as they went down the page.

Ford folded his arms and looked at her.

"Well, at least they thought about it this time, dad! This proves that this is Slartibartfast's new Earth." She added.

"I need real proof." He said directing his voice to the computer.

"Do you want to trapes out there and search for his signature again? This is the real proof, all in this one room." She said pressing the printer key as the paper started to fly out of the photocopier.

"What are you going to do with that information?" He said watching her dancing around trying to catch the free flying paper.

"Talk to Arthur and Trillian, see what they have to say. See if we can't get through to Zaphod, somehow."

"You do realise that if he does eventually listen to you that he will dump this planet possible along with the ship at a moments notice."

Claira looked up from the pages in her hand then looked back at the keyboard.

"He'll probably just dump the planet. It says here that the ship can pull away from the planet once the correct settings have been met."

"The correct settings? Hey, those course changes." He said snapping his fingers and looking to her.

"It's gearing itself up for the final separation."

"It's own big bang. That means we must be close to the coordinates pre set for it now." He said moving to the keyboard to tap in some more commands.

Claira stepped away to face the door.

"Who's going to look after it once the ship has separated from the planet? Nothing has been created. It's almost like a blank page waiting to be written upon and we don't know how to help it." She said looking down then allowed the door to open and she moved out in to the corridor.

"Who looked after the other Earth's, certainly not me and Claira, certainly not, hey, Claira?" Ford said trying to catch her up. He noticed another door in the corridor close, but he decided not to follow and instead moved back out to the patio area. He grabbed a drink and sat down aside from Arthur and Random. She slightly looked at him.

"For your information, uncle Ford, we've changed position again."

"I know. Claira and I were just in the computer room. We both noticed the change, thank you Random."

She moved back in her seat to get comfortable again.

"How many more of these course changes are we going to endure?" Arthur said looking at him.

"Not many more now. I think what the computer is doing now is just making it's own separation area nice and cosy for the big bang." Ford said lying back in his lounger.

Random now went back to looking at him.

"What, big bang?"

"Oh yeah, I didn't tell you, well when the ship finally ejects this planet from it's back side it will start it's very own big bang. The only thing is with this big bang it will not be quite on the same scale as the original big bangs, because, well because." He stopped and realised that Arthur and Random were actually sitting up and listening to him.

"Because, like a child when it first comes into being, as parents, we have no idea what to do with it, right Ford?" Claira said behind them.

The three of them now looked at Claira standing half on the patio area.

"I wouldn't have quite put it in that context, but what your saying is basically right, yeah."

"Then, how would the great Ford Prefect have put it, dad? Sorry, but this is another Earth that's messed up; dump it like the other Earth's ha? Give the co-ordinates to the Vogon's, this is a nice place to put another by-pass!"

"Oh Claira, again with the Vogon's?" Arthur said standing up to move back to her.

"I don't need your pity, Arthur and I don't need you, Ford Prefect! My parents are dead," She looked down. "Dead?"

"Claira!" Ford said going to her.

She now brought the transmit device in to his view which stopped him dead in his tracks.

"You don't own me Ford! You don't know me, you don't, and you don't." She shook her head and then ran back in to the house.

"Darling, what's the matter?" Trillian said stopping her.

"My parents are dead! I don't need a family, I don't need a 'dad'"

They watched her run in to the back.

Trillian moved out to look at Ford standing exactly in the place where Claira had left him.

"Do you want a drink?"

"Why not?" He said now following her back to his seat.

They now looked out beyond their small glass dome onto the silvery speckled sky.

"Nice part of the area to be in." Trillian said sipping her drink.

"Someone seemed to think so, yeah." Ford said watching her.

"Away from any space lanes, I hope." Arthur said looking at him.

"Well away. That was the first thing Claira, that was the first thing Claira checked for. No Vogon co-ordinates lay around here. No, I think that this Earth is just about right." He said looking back as part of him thought of Claira.

"Right for what?" Arthur said.

"Right for who? That would be a better question to ask, Arthur." Random said looking at him then Ford now looking back to them.

He quickly swallowed his drink.

"I hate it when she's right."

"Who?" Random said.

"Shoosh!" Trillian said staring at her. She then looked at Ford.

"This planet hasn't got anyone to look after it. We wouldn't even know where to start. I thought I knew where to start when, when I promised her my life, but again she's proved me wrong. I can't be her father because it's not what she really wants. I have to give her what she wants just to get close to her again."

"Ford, you know what she wants, a home!" Trillian said then went back to her drink.

"Eventually, yes I would agree with you but, not today, not now."

"Hurh?"

"I've realised just what she really wants and if I hurry I might be able to give them to her." He said jumping up and going back in to the computer room.

Claira was now back in the home that Ford had created for them both. She lay on her bed staring at the ceiling that she had noticed was mottled with cracks and slight holes within the plaster.

Ford walked in some moments later and looked around. He now went upstairs and knocked on her door, slightly opening it.

"Claira, are you there darling?"

She sighed. "Where else would I be?" She said turning to put her back towards the door.

He now opened this door wider and focused in on her lying on her bed.

"Alright?"

She turned back, looked at him then went back to staring at the ceiling again.

"This ceiling needs re-plastering."

"Hurh?" He said moving forward to bend over the bed to look up at the same view she was looking at. "Oh yeah, erm, sorry. I never really used this room back home, so I guess I never really got round to sorting it out."

"You never thought about having children?"

He looked at her then lent back onto the headboard and folded his arms in his usual manner.

"No!"

"Figures. I mean, not coming from Earth in the first place." She said looking away.

Ford now realised that she still had the transmit device in her hand and was pointing it towards the ceiling. He moved closer and slightly rested his hand on hers.

"At least the beam will be able to break through that slight crack in your bedroom ceiling, through to the ship and towards the next space ship flying by in this sector, ha?" He said now grabbing the device.

Claira realised what he was doing and pulled it away. She stared at him.

"Hmm, oh sorry." He said looking away.

She now jumped up and moved to the window that allowed her to look out to the stars.

"Do you blame me for trying?" He added.

She looked back to him as she realised that he was still looking at her hand that held the transmit device.

"I could blame you for everything, Ford."

"But, you don't?"

She stared at him.

Ford moved off her bed and up to the window to look out in to the darkness of space. He looked down to Claira beside him.

"Give me the transmit device, Claira."

"Why should I?" She said stepping away.

"Because I might be able to source out a better ride."

"Hurh?"

"See, you have it on a wide scan." He said looking down to the device in her hand.

"I have?" She said looking at it.

Ford released it from her hand. "If I could just, ah, here we go."

"What are you doing?" She said watching him playing with the device.

"Wide scan is very juvenile. I know how to make this work better than you." He said pressing the array of buttons on it's shaft.

"Juvenile? You mean, because I'm a child, right?"

"No! I meant that in your haste to get away from me you would have accepted anywhere in the universe. You could have ended up in deep space, dead, for all you'd known."

"Dead? Like my parents, you mean?"

"Or, more probably like your home."

Claira now looked past him to her bed and moved to sit back on it.

"Like my home?" She said touching the duvet as if to feel some sense of secure ness about being there, being home at that point.

Ford quickly disabled the device and moved back to her and sat down. He placed the device on to the nightstand. He made sure Claira saw him do this and leaned back into the headboard again.

"Home." She said watching him.

"Yes."

"No, your home."

"What about it?"

"You had an extra room, with an extra bed."

"You know all this, Claira, you were there with me the last two nights before you decided to."

"An extra room dad, an extra bed."

"What?" He asked watching her.

"You were on Earth for fifteen years before, well, before we met."

"Yes."

"You didn't once think about? About?"

They stared at each other as Ford realised what she meant, looked away and sighed.

"If I would have had a child on Earth, it would have been you." He said putting his hand on her shoulder.

She shyly looked at him.

"You don't deserve to have me." She said pulling away and jumping up.

"Fine! Your still here though." He said watching her reaction.

"Your testing me, Ford!"

"Am I? I hadn't really noticed."

"You want me to go, don't you? So, you can waste another two years trying to find me again, ha?"  
Ford moved to lay on her bed.

"I didn't waste two years before, you did. I only found out about you a week before we met at that space station."

"Yeah, while I was searching for the Vogon's."

"Exactly, alone." He said looking away.

Claira watched him and slightly moved closer to the bed, which he lay upon.

"I guess that I'll always search for the Vogon's and I'll always search for them on my own."

"You don't have to. Well, not anymore, you don't." He said turning to look at her.

She now sat on the bed.

"Hurh?"

"Searching for the Vogon's. We could search for them together from now on."

"Search for them together? I don't understand. I thought that you would be one of the first to try and get me off the idea of searching for them, like uncle Arthur has tried." She said looking at him.

"I was, but I've come to realise that you would never be able to be completely happy and relax with and settle down within a nice family atmosphere until you had completely dealt with the Vogon's for destroying your home planet. To that end, I just thought that I'd come along with you."

"What on earth for?"

"For company?" He said shrugging his shoulders.

She looked down to mull over what they were talking about.

"To finally destroy the Vogon's. I guess that if they were destroyed then there would be no other reason for me to worry and I could."

"Settle down with your family, finally?" He said looking at her.

"My family?" She said looking back.

Ford brought her face back to look at him. "I meant, your father." He added then moved forward to kiss her.

"Dad? Daddy!" She said hugging him.

"We're going to be okay darling, you and me."

"Finally destroying the Vogon's?"

Ford now hugged her and then looked to his fingers tightly crossed together.

"Yeah." He said looking up to the cracks in the ceiling.

**CHAPTER 17**

Zaphod walked out of his room and headed to the kitchen area of the ship. Trillian walked in from the patio and noticed that Zaphod had the ships manual with him.

"Any luck?"  
He looked at her.

"The computer?" She said pointing to the manual.

"No! Claira has done something to it."

"Why blame Claira? Oh I get it, because she's human, right?"

"Why not? You're all the same inside. Destroy a perfectly good ship. I mean, look what happened to the Heart Of Gold!" Zaphod said raising his voice so that all on the patio could hear.

Trillian looked back to Arthur who had decided to not to rise to the occasion. She now pulled Zaphod in to the living room.

"Hey, I'm hungry!"

"You can feed your ego later. For your information Zaphod, Claira is not interested in you anymore than I am at this present moment in time. The planet cannot support any life organic or genetic because nothing was programmed for it when the ship left Magrathea, so in answer to Claira doing something to the computer I would highly doubt it, Zaphod."

"Alright, so maybe my hasty retreat might have been a little."

"A lot, I would say, Zaphod."

"Okay, so what are we going to do? We haven't moved all night!"

"Reset the computers programme. Turn this ship around and head back to Magrathea." Arthur said walking in with Random tucked in to his side.

"Hey Earthman, are you crazy? Magrathea has been discovered. Besides if I go back there after my last performance."

"Fine. We'll drop you off at the nearest space station."

"What? This is my ship, man! No-one is going to drop me anywhere." Zaphod said looking at them. "Okay, alright." He said moving away.

"I'll go and tell Ford we're going back." Arthur said looking at Trillian then moved further in to the ship to the area that Ford had created for himself.

Ford was sitting on the sofa working on the transmit device he had stolen from Claira.

"Ford."

"Hello Arthur."

"Ah, I see that you managed to get that thing away from her."

"Yes. I'm trying to disable it but in a way that Claira will not be aware that there is anything wrong with it."

"Then that means you didn't get anywhere with her?"

"Oh, I always get somewhere with my daughter, Arthur. I'm just making sure that if anything else goes wrong in this family that she doesn't get to this before I've had a chance to deal with the problems a child like mine can go through."

Arthur looked at him.

"Another pacifier you mean?

Ford now looked up as he finished working on the device.

"What can I do for you, Arthur?"

"Hurh?"

"Well, you've made the effort to come over to my humble abode, what's up?"

"Oh erm, Trillian and I have talked to Zaphod about his plans to leave."

"And?"

"We've persuaded Zaphod that it would be best if we turned this ship around and head back to Magrathea."

"Magrathea?" Ford said standing up.

"Where this ship was built."

"Yes Arthur, I've realised that."

"Great, that's ten light years away from the Vogon's last known position." Claira said behind them. "Dad, we'll be able to smell them from that distance." She added moving towards him.

"Would you mind going back to bed, young lady? I wish to have a conversation with your uncle in private."

"But dad, the Vogon's!"

"Can wait till the morning, now bed!"

"Okay. Goodnight uncle Arthur."

They watched her head back up to her room.

Ford sighed and sat down.

"I give! I totally give up!"

"Ford? What have you said to her?"

"I promised her the Vogon's on a silver platter. The only thing is if we go to Magrathea, we'll be the ones on the silver platter and not just in the restaurant at the end of the universe."

"You promised Claira the Vogon's? You're actually praying on her own crazy idea?"

"To keep my child here with me, yes! Wouldn't you?"

Arthur stared at him then walked out.

He looked down at the transmitting device in his hand then threw it across the room and looked back to the door for which Arthur had just used to leave him alone in his living room.

The next morning Arthur, Random, Trillian and Zaphod gathered in the computer room to try and reset the controls.

Arthur had already told them what Ford had done, so when he walked in with Claira who was tightly holding on to his hand, they all looked at him.

She slowly moved in closer to him.

"Erm, what's going on dad? Why are they all looking at us?"

"I've no idea." He said then looked at Arthur.

"Thanks a lot Ford!" Random said moving out to him. "You've really put us on def com three now with the Vogon's!" She said then looked at Claira and pushed her.

"Hey, what?"

"Random!" Trillian said looking at her.

She now left them to it.

Ford pulled Claira in front of him.

"Look darling, I need to talk to your aunt and uncle's alone. Would you mind waiting outside for me?

"Sure. Catcha later guys." She said then looked at Ford and kissed him.

He watched her go then looked at Arthur, Trillian and Zaphod looking on.

Claira went out in to the kitchen to find Marvin cooking breakfast.

"You got any toast Marvin? I'm starving."

She was now pulled back in her chair.

"Loser! That's all you were ever born to be. You don't deserve a family, why do you think you never had one on Earth until it was too late for anyone to care for you? Do you think Ford really cares for you? Loser, loser!" She said jostling her.

Ford moved up to the consul and turned round to look at them.

"Are we heading to Magrathea?"

"Yes." Trillian said moving to the controls.

He stopped her. "We can't go with you."

"Ford, there's a possibility that the Vogon's might not be there." Arthur said.

"And if they are? What happens then, Arthur? I lose Claira again, this time for good?"

"Well, lets face it Ford, if we all die at least we'll die together." Zaphod said now stepping up to him.

The intercom now played away to itself.

"What's that?" Trillian asked.

"The in-house intercom." Ford said moving to the door and pressing the button in. "Hello?"

"I just thought you'd like to know that the children are fighting, not that it would bother you." Marvin said watching a few flying punches.

"The children? Claira!" Ford said pressing the door button and flying out into the kitchen area. He quickly grabbed her splaying arms.

"Let me at her Ford, let me at her!" She said struggling.

Arthur walked in and led Random away.

Trillian grabbed the first aid box from the wall and handed it to Ford.

"How is she?" Trillian asked looking on.

"I'm fine, let me at her."

"Time out here, okay! What were you playing at?"

"Nothing? I asked Marvin for some toast and she goes and lands one on me. Owwh, that hurts!"

"Cold compress." Ford said looking up.

Trillian went to the tap and wetted a sacred towel and handed it to him.

Arthur now came back in.

"Are you alright?"

"As if you'd care."

"Claira!" Ford said staring at her.

"Well I'm the injured party here. Am I bleeding? Am I?" She said looking at him.

"Your bruised, no blood, luckily."

"You call that lucky? Why did she hit me?"

Arthur looked at Ford who now shook his head.

"I've no idea."

"Oh so she just hits people for no apparent reason, ha? I'd watch yourself uncle Arthur, you might just be next!" She said then allowed Ford to carry on dabbing her chin.

Ford picked Claira up and headed back in to the living room.

"Ford, we have to talk." Trillian said following.

"Yeah, later Trillian."

She stopped him then looked at Claira and moved away.

"Is something going on here that I don't know about?"

"Like what?"

"I don't know, you tell me."

"There's nothing for you to worry about."

"Does that go for the Vogon's as well?"

They now looked at one another.

Ford allowed Claira to sleep on for a while, so he went back to the computer room where Trillian now was checking the read-out. She turned round and looked at him.

"Claira alright?"

"Yes. I've left her sleeping off the pain."

"Random has a great right hook. I'm sorry about that."

"Don't apologise. I really should be apologising to you and the others. Look Trillian, we'll go as far as the last space station before Magrathea. I'll think up some kind of an explanation to give to Claira."

"Out of the question. We'll handle this together, as Claira would like to think of us all, as a family." She said touching his hand.

Ford looked at her then went out.

Claira awoke in her bedroom. She looked around, remembered where she was and duly went to the window to stare at the stars now rushing by as the ship headed back to Magrathea. She went to the bathroom and looked at her jaw that was now turning a nice purple colour. It reminded her of the drink she had tried to swallow when they first arrived on the ship. She now went downstairs and looked around for any alien life then headed out to the main part of the ship. Arthur found solace that morning in the living room reading a book. Claira casually walked past him hoping he didn't notice her.

"Claira?"

She was wrong and stopped. She slowly turned round and looked at him.

"Yes, uncle Arthur?"

He put his book down and stood up.

"How are you, child?" He said moving her face more into the light to check her bruise.

She quickly stepped away.

"I'm fine, Arthur. The bruise will go down and then you'll be none the wiser."

"I'll go and fetch Random, she will apologise to you immediately."

"Why bother, Arthur? I just hope that I don't get like that in my adolescent years. I'd hate to hit my, my uncle." She said looking at him as she touched her chin and then went out to the patio.

Arthur watched her go and thought to himself.

That evening they all had dinner together. Random glared at Claira from across the table.

"Ah great, I'm starved!" Zaphod said grabbing his plate from Marvin.

Everyone else stayed silent as Ford soon realised that you could cut the atmosphere with a knife that evening.

"Random, I was wondering if it would be possible for you to apologise to Claira for hitting her this morning." Arthur said looking at her.

"Ha? Me apologise when she's put us in danger!"

"Random, please." Trillian said looking at her.

"How can I have put you in danger? I haven't done anything, yet."

"Yeah, yet!" Random said looking away.

"You want someone to blame Random, then why don't you blame me? At least I'm more closer to your size." Ford said staring at her.

"What?" Random said now looking at him.

"Claira's nine years old, she's still a baby compared to you!"

"No I'm not! Dad, what are you trying to say?"

"Be quiet Claira, I'm handling this."

"No your not! No one is handling anything. I can think for myself you know, I have done for the past two years."

"Yeah, you thought for yourself alright, and look where it got you!" Random said staring at her. "You should have forgotten about her completely in those two years away from her uncle Ford. We wouldn't be in the dilemma we're in now if it wasn't for."

"What dilemma?"

"Waiting to be read some more Vogon Poetry, that's what dilemma we're now in, Claira Prefect!"

"Vogon Poetry? Is this? Is this what all this is about? Why I?" She said looking at her as she touched her jaw. "Ford?"

"Claira!" He said taking her hand.

She pulled it away and looked down.

"She's right."

"No she isn't, Claira, and Random will apologise for what she has said." He said staring at her.

"She's right because of the way I feel towards the Vogon's, my home when they destroyed it. I thought that I would just go on, using them to blame when I was really blaming myself for not being there when, for leaving you that night, Ford. Two years, two years of the same feelings, the same hatred against." She now bolted for the exit.

"Claira!" Ford said trying to follow.

"Two years? Time for another drink, I suppose." Zaphod said wiping his hands on the napkin and grabbing the wine bottle.

Trillian and Arthur looked at one another as Random ran out on to the patio.

**CHAPTER 18**

The planet Magrathea now appeared on the scanners of the ships main computer and also onto the only scanner on the Lone Destron Satellite Destroyer that now sat precariously on Magratheas' ozone layer. He used the computers charm to check on the occupants of this ship and recognised on of the names.

"Claira Prefect, at long last. Contact the Vogon head council alert them of my status. With the human heading over here I'm sure that they will give me a jump start back in to space." The captain said as he swivelled in his high chair.

The ship now sailed past the destroyer that made Claira's sub etha radio flicker as she lay on her bed staring at the many cracks in the ceiling above her.

"Hello?" She said picking up the radio and peering in to it.

"Claira Prefect, good evening to you."

She looked around the room.

"Hurh? Where are you? Your signal strength is, wow!"

"Try looking outside your window."

She jumped up and ran to the window and noticed the destroyer.

"I don't believe this."

"I'm here Claira, waiting for you, with everything you remember."

She looked at the signal button flashing like it did that night.

Ford returned back to the living room and then headed up the stairs to Claira's room.

"Claira?" He said knocking on the door.

"Dad, um, erm?" She said looking at the button.

Ford now walked in and noticed her holding the radio.

"Claira, what?" He now moved to the window and saw the ship. "No!" He said turning back to her.

"Excitement and adventure and really wild things, dad!"

"Not on your own!" He said moving up to her.

She looked at him. "No, with my father!" She said pressing the button.

They soon found themselves on the destroyer.

"Welcome! Oh erm, and who do we have here?"

"My father, Ford Prefect! Don't you remember I told you about him?"

"Erm, vaguely, my mind isn't what it was."

"What mind would that be, pray tell me? Come on Claira, we're getting out of here before."

"Before, what?"

"Before you've had a chance to do something that you might regret."

"What, like send the planet ship away for a good hundred, thousand miles or so? Sorry, that's already been done; I could send you along with them though, through the vacuum of space! But, I couldn't rate your chances of survival."

"What?" Ford said moving to the window.

"You've done what?" Claira said following him.

"I had to darling, you're my." He stopped and looked at Ford.

Ford grabbed her.

"Him, too?"

"Well, I was lonely!"

"Lonely? Lonely on the Lone Destron Satellite Destroyer, do you need any more prompts? Do you need any more fathers? No, don't answer that!"

She looked away.

"Come along Claira, we don't need him to make us feel welcome." The captain said taking her hand.

"You leave her alone." Ford said pulling her back behind him.

"Dad, I'm alright."

"There, do you see who she's calling dad? Come along darling, daddies right here and I've been waiting for your return." The captain said moving forward.

"Hurh?" She said looking at him then moved closer to Ford.

"You stay away from her. I was her father long before you met her. I was her father on Earth where she was born!"

"Earth? Yes, I knew that planet. It was one the Vogon's destroyed when they were in to extending their lane changes or something unimportant."

"Unimportant? That was my home, tell him, dad!"

"I think that he knows that darling, he's playing with us."

"Playing with you, yes but not my daughter, excuse me." He said moving forward.

"Ford!" Claira said shoving her head into his kidneys.

"Hold on a minute there, for a moment" Arthur said behind them.

The captain turned round. "Hurh?"

Arthur now knocked him off his pins.

"Uncle Arthur!" Claira said moving aside and going up to him for a hug.

"Now this is more like it." He said holding her.

Ford moved up to him, shook Arthur's hand then pulled Claira back to him and held her close.

"How did you get back here so quickly?"

"Get back here so quickly? What so you mean? We're just outside."

Ford looked at Claira then Arthur pointing back to the other window. They now ran to it to see the planet ship lying in close to the destroyer.

"Hurh, but I thought?"

"Of course, he only showed us the port side window. Our ship was on the starboard side." Ford said then started to laugh.

Claira looked at him then joined him in laughing.

"Well, are you coming back or not?" Arthur said grabbing his transporting device.

"Try and stop us!" She said running back to him.

Ford stepped up to him as their transmit was accepted just as the captain woke up.

"Claira, Claira darling, we can be friends, I know we can." He said then watched as they all disappeared. He jumped up and moved to the consul. "Ah, excellent. The Vogon's will be here by the morning, see you soon darling." He said then pressed another button as the destroyer moved out of orbit, slightly.

They all found themselves back on the planet ship with Trillian about to serve drinks.

"Oh, at last. I thought that there might have been a problem." She said handing out the drinks.

"No, no problem." Arthur said taking a glass from her.

Claira now stepped up to her as she realised what drinks they were and took one from her. Ford now took it away from her and walked away.

"Hey, Ford, that was mine."

"Your too young!" He said swallowing the contents.

Trillian moved up to Claira and hugged her.

"I thought that he'd got you for good that time, darling. Thankfully Arthur remembered that teleport device back in your living room."

"Teleport device in my living room? Ford said now looking back. "But, I." He said then looked at Arthur.

"Well, that's why it took me some time to get to you. If you would have broken it you'd still be there now, at the mercy of that, say Claira, who was that, that?" He said watching her.

"Another father!" Ford said looking at her as he gave this sarcastic reply.

Claira was about to answer Arthur then stopped and looked at Ford.

"Oh I see. That's why." Arthur said allowing Ford to walk out on to the patio with him as they talked about the captain and Claira.

Trillian watched her then slowly moved up to him.

"You could lose him you know."

Claira turned to look at her.

"With the way you carry on, I mean."

"What, like the way you carried on with uncle Zaphod when you knew point blank how you felt about uncle Arthur? Give me a break, aunt Trillian!" She said moving out on to the patio.

She watched her go then looked at Arthur as she realised how true Claira was.

Claira moved up to Ford's chair for a hug and he allowed her in and held her. Trillian now walked up to them watching Claira as her words swam round in her as she sat down next to Arthur.

Random now walked out with Zaphod in tow.

"Oh look, it's back!" She said focusing in on Claira trying to get comfortable on Ford.

"Random, please!" Trillian said watching her.

"Hey Ford, welcome back man!" Zaphod said grabbing his hand and giving him a very hard shake.

"Easy Zaphod, Claira's trying to get some sleep."

"Oh that's right Ford, think of the human first, why don't you." Random said then looked at Arthur staring at her. "So?" She said then tried to copy Claira by moving up close to Arthur.

Arthur looked at her then Ford.

"Kids!" Ford said shaking his head. He then looked out to the planet Magrathea. "So that's it then, Magrathea?" He added then sipped at his drink.

"Yeah. We'll find a place to park this thing in the morning then its all systems go." Zaphod said grabbing his glass.

"In the morning?" Ford said looking at him.

"Oh yes. What? Your not expecting me to go down there totally smashed, are you?" Zaphod said looking on.

"No, no." Ford said allowing himself to get comfortable.

The next morning Claira awoke in her bed and turned over. She now jumped up as she remembered where she was and ran out of her room and down the stairs to come face to face with Ford preparing breakfast.

"Oh hi, do you want some toast?"

"Hurh?"

"Or just some milk to be getting on with?"

"Milk?"

"Well, you've got to have something, the ship goes back to basics by this afternoon, so I would like to see something inside of you before the morning is out." He said pulling a chair out.

She looked around the room.

"We're at Magrathea?

"Good guess. Have you woken up yet?"

"Yes, of course I have, Ford!"

"Well then and erm, if you wouldn't mind getting out of your pyjamas before we leave the house. I don't want you reminding me anymore of your uncle." He said looking away.

She looked at him then grabbed the milk bottle and went back upstairs.

"Fine!" He said then took his seat and carried on eating his breakfast.

Within the hour they were in the outer house as the ship found it's docking area and finally shut down its engines.

"Well, now what?" Random said looking around.

"Now, we explore." Zaphod said pressing the outer hatch button.

"What's going to happen to our?" She stopped and looked at Ford then turned quickly to Zaphod now going out. "What's going to happen to the ship while we're 'exploring'?" She said using her hands to exaggerate the word.

"Nothing. We have to make it happen!" Zaphod said as his voice started to echo around the area they now found themselves in.

"Make what happen?"

"Claira, will you stop with the twenty questions and just enjoy it. Jeez Ford, where did you get her from?" He said looking back and noticing Arthur following. "Oh yeah, never mind."

Ford now grabbed Claira's hand and stopped her.

"You'll walk with me."

"Oh brilliant. Ford Prefect, the great explorer. Letting uncle Zaphod go on in front, as ever!" She said looking away.

They now all found themselves outside on the planet Magrathea as they had done before, except of course, for Random and Claira who now seemed to be together and looking around.

"Not exactly like Earth, is it?" Random said completing her one hundred and eighty degree turn.

"Did you expect it to be?" Claira said looking at her.

"Hurh? Well, erm, no I guess not."

Ford now clicked his fingers. "Would you two mind?"

Random and Claira now looked at one another then Ford and ran up to him.

"We have to find Slartibartfast if we are going to get anything done about our home." Ford said taking her hand.

Claira stared at him as she realised what he meant.

"Home?" Random said stepping up to them.

"He means the ship. If we get the ship sorted out we'll, we'll have our home back." She said then looked at Ford looking on.

"Well, where would we find this Slarti?"

"Slartibartfast." Ford said looking back to Random then gazing out to the horizon. "I've no idea."

They carried on walking for miles then came upon the opening that they had found before.

"Here it is guys, the tunnel."

"Yep, uncle Zaphod, that's definitely a tunnel." Claira said moving up to him and peering in to the darkness.

"Not just any tunnel kid, the tunnel!"

"The tunnel, yeah, right, hey Random, it's the tunnel."

"So what's new?"

Ford now grabbed Claira and pulled her behind him.

"Hey Ford, I was just mentioning."

"Later!"

"Lets go." Zaphod said walking in.

They cautiously followed Zaphod in. It now got very dark for which Claira got very scared.

"I think I left my flashlight back at home, I'll just go back and get it." She said turning away only to be grabbed by Ford.

"You stay with me. Nothing will happen to you, I'm here."

"And that's supposed to make me feel better, hurh?"

"Shoosh, there's the light!" Zaphod said grabbing Ford.

"How are you feeling uncle Zaphod? Any better now that you have my dad's other hand?" She said allowing him to look down at his hand tightly clasped in Ford's hand.

Zaphod quickly released it as Random started to chuckle away to herself.

Claira looked back and then joined her in laughing.

"It didn't take them long to kiss and make up!" Trillian said looking at Arthur.

"No!" Arthur said agreeing with her.

There was now a noise in front of them and they looked towards the light as a familiar figure now wandered up to them.

"Well, it's about time." A familiar voice said now moving up to them.

"Sorry, we're you expecting us?" Arthur said stepping forward.

"Of course! I've had you on my scanners for months. The computer malfunctioning, the dead planet, all exactly timed you see, to bring you back here."

"You mean to say you knew it was us who had the ship all along?" Arthur said looking at him quite bewildered by the whole scene.

"It could only have been you. Come, come, the ship is already being repaired and reprogrammed."

"Hey, wait a minute, we left the ship some miles back there, how could it already be?" Zaphod said following close in behind Arthur and Slartibartfast.

"My men had a homing device fitted to it, in case of, emergencies." He said looking back.

"Emergencies? You call the death of a planet just an emergency? I'd call it more than an emergency, I'd go so far in to saying that it's." She was now pulled back. "Hey!"

"Would you leave this up to the adults darling, you don't know what your doing."

"I know that this planet was designed to be the new Earth, so I know what must be done to, to." She stopped realising that Ford had now crossed his arms in the manner that she remembered. "Well, something has got to be done."

"And it will be done, Miss Prefect, by me. Watch!" Slartibartfast said pressing a button as a giant plate screen lifted in front of them.

Claira stepped back in to Ford as he duly held her.

They soon witnessed the great ship that had housed the ill-fated planet stuck to its backside now suspended like a toy hanging from a child's ceiling.

"Is that what it really looks like from the outside?" Random said stepping forward.

"Magnificent, isn't she?" Slartibartfast said looking on.

"That wasn't the word I was looking for." She said turning away.

"Wait a minute man, that's just the ship, what happened to?" Zaphod said staring through the perspex.

"The planet?" Slartibartfast said looking at him.

"Well, yeah."

He now pressed another button as the back wall fell away. Giant cranes could now be seen supporting the new planet, blue in colour with wisps of white clouds and green/grey colours dotted amongst the spaces.

"Wow, home!" Claira said stepping forward to come nose to nose with the glass.

Ford looked at her then the whole new Earth in front of them.

"The computers have been reprogrammed to take this Earth to a secret location, away from the Vogon's and whatever plans they may have and eject it into space and there it shall stay for ever more." Slartibartfast said as the capsule from the ship now engulfed the new Earth and the systems came on line.

"And you just expect us to carry on as normal, go back out there in that, with that planet?" Trillian said looking at him.

"You all want the Earth to survive again, don't you?"

"Yes, but that's prehistoric Earth. That doesn't have a Tesco's down the road so that I can stop off and buy my weekly shopping or a facial scrub for ninety nine pence, does it?" She said pointing.

"The Earth has to evolve, mankind has to evolve."

"Well, you can count me out. I've had enough of prehistoric Earth to last me a lifetime." Ford said turning away.

"What? How can you say that dad, you must have known that this was coming." Claira said looking back at him.

Ford slightly looked at her.

"I didn't ask to be here, kid!"

"No, I guess I did. It's blame the human time again, ha? I've got no parents, I've got no direction in life, I might as well have no life at all by your reckoning!" She said pushing past Ford and the other adults and running out to the caves.

Ford watched her go then looked at Arthur who now turned away.

**CHAPTER 19**

By now, the Vogon's were navigating through the two guided missiles that had been sent up by Magrathea's defence systems.

Claira walked to the edge of the cave to witness the two missiles exploding into the night sky in a great fireball. Having not been on this planet before she took the explosions to be a light show spectacular and hung close to the cave expecting even more wondrous things to occur. She also now realised from which direction the wind came from so backed further in to the cave to alleviate her now noticeable shivering.

The Vogon's encircled Magrathea, scanning for any signs of human life. With darkness on the planet they used a wide beam scanner to pick up any movements. This scanner, in the form of a piercing white light moved slowly but surely over the entire planet and headed towards the cave that Claira was in. She forgot about the cold wind for a while as she moved out past the entrance to watch this light move towards her. She was now forcefully grabbed and thrown to the back of the cave just as the light reached her.

"Do you wanna get yourself killed?"

She looked towards the entrance as this dark silhouetted figure walked towards her just as the white piercing light finally went out.

"Fo, Ford?" She said wiping her eyes.

"Well, who were you expecting, your uncle Arthur?"

"Erm?"

"Shoosh!" He said grabbing her again.

"What?"

Claira looked down and noticed the mice.

"Hey, there are mice here."

"I know, forget about them. We have to get back to that ship."

"Finally he realises its worth!" She said lifting her hands into the air.

Ford tapped her on the shoulder.

"We have to get back to the ship because in less than thirty seconds or so this planet is going the way of your home, you remember your home don't you? Were you had no parents!"

Claira looked at him and then to the edge of the cave.

"The Vogon's?"

"Finally, she realises!" He said lifting his hands into the air repeating her last gesture towards him now back at her.

Claira headed back to the ship with Ford in hot pursuit.

"Ford, Claira over here quickly, we've got seconds!" Arthur said watching them.

"Don't remind me!" Ford said pushing Claira onto the ship as the door closed behind them.

The ship took off as Magrathea crumbled around them.

Claira stood on the back porch as the ship limped out of orbit trying to gain some speed away from the Vogon's now realising that they had escaped.

"The Vogon's are starting to move towards us, Zaphod!" Trillian said checking the scanner.

"Can we out-run them?" Arthur asked moving back.

"Your about to find out." Zaphod said pressing a sequence of buttons.

Ford moved out past Claira onto the patio and took his seat then grabbed a drink.

"How can you sit there while the Vogon's are?" She said pointing out to the darkness of space behind him.

"Zaphod is dealing with them, sit down."

"No!" She said turning back to look at the scanner flashing red telling them all of their impending doom.

"I'm more interesting than the Vogon's. You must know their selling point by now." Ford said starting his drink.

Claira looked down and closed her eyes and mind to Zaphod clambering for as much power he could grab hold of and turned round to open them onto a relaxed Ford Prefect sitting on the patio chair watching the stars rush past.

He now realised that Claira had moved up to him and was staring at him.

"Oh, allow me." He said putting his drink down and pulling Claira up and onto his lap and held her. "There now, isn't that nice?" She looked at him. "Hmm, I think that I can take the hint." He said kissing her then grabbed his drink and tried to relax as the ship swerved from side to side.

She watched the stars sway in the sky in an unusual way then looked towards the others fighting for control of the ship.

"They wont give up you know. It's, it's almost like it's inbred in them."

"Like destroying them is inbred in you?"

"Dad, there are three humans remaining from the Earth's destruction by the Vogon's sitting nervously on this ship, two adults and a child."

"Almost like a human family in space, hurh?" Ford said choosing this moment to sip at his drink.

"A family?"

"Yeah, you know, Trillian, Arthur, you. Mummy, daddy and you, their daughter." He said looking at her.

Claira jumped off his lap.

"This is all because I said I never had any parents, isn't it?"

"You tell me. Have you any parents?"

Zaphod screaming and rushing out to join them on them on the patio soon broke their silent stare towards each other.

"I don't know how he managed it but we have left the Vogon's far behind." Arthur said joining the others in sitting down.

"The Vogon's? Their, their gone?" Claira asked now focussing in on the triumphant team.

"Gone and totally forgotten!" Zaphod said downing one drink then quickly another.

"Our next great task awaits." Slartibartfast said moving up behind them.

"Hurh?" Everyone said turning round to stare at him.

"The co-ordinates for the new Earth must be laid in. We've already journeyed too far from the original course, we have to get this ship back on track."

"Yeah, yeah, later. For now lets party!" Zaphod said starting on his next drink.

Claira watched a rather agitated Slartibartfast move back in to the house and up to the consul. She slowly followed him and sat on the chair watching him. He slowly looked at her.

"Erm, is it alright that I can sit here?" She asked as he slightly nodded then carried on programming the ship. "Excuse me for asking but where exactly are the co-ordinates for the ship going to take us?"

"Away from the Vogon's."

"Yeah, but that's hardly an answer. How deep in space is away from the Vogon's? Beyond the space lanes? Beyond any help of rescue so that we, so that we'd have no way of getting back?"

"The ship will take you back."

"Take us back where? Home?"

He turned away.

"I have to concentrate."

Claira again went back to watching him.

Ford walked back into the house some hours later noticing Claira still watching Slartibartfast programming the ship.

"Claira?" He said clicking his fingers.

"Hurh? Oh hi dad."

"Anything wrong?"

"Wrong?" She looked back to the consul then back to Ford. "Why, why would there be anything wrong?"

"Your expression." He said moving up to her and touching her face.

"I'm fine! Erm, have we still got a house back there?" She said slightly looking at Slartibartfast.

"Everything is as you left it." He said finally rising to his feet and moving away.

"Is it?" Claira said not being comforted by his words.

"Claira?" Ford now said more sternly.

This finally brought her round and she focused in on Ford staring at her.

"I'm going home!"

"Hurh?" Slartibartfast said looking back.

"She means to the copy of our home we had together back on Earth. Which, I might add we only had one whole day and a night together. She left me on that last night before the Earth was destroyed." Ford said making sure Claira had heard these words as she walked back further in to the ship.

"She was scared." Slartibartfast said then moved away.

Ford now didn't feel comforted by his words and slowly followed Claira back to the house. He jumped on to the sofa as Claira bolted for the stairs and the comfort of her room jumping on to the bed as the springs finally gave way to her presence. She went into staring at the ceiling until she finally fell asleep.

Later, as everyone slept, Claira searched for a pocket torch that she just happened to acquire at a galactic boot fair one afternoon and moved out of her room and down the stairs to the living room. The torch hardly made a difference to the darkness around her at that stage. She walked straight into the hall table and watched it start to topple over. She fumbled quickly to stop it hitting the floor as the weight of the table clock that was on top fell hard on to her hand. She lay there for a second to compose herself. She looked around for the torch that was now right across the other side of the hall. She clambered for it and checked the state of her hand in the dim light. She licked the blood on her hand and positioned the table back on its legs. Claira now opened the front door and went out and headed towards the computer room. She opened the door and turned on the light, quickly closing the door behind her. She moved up to the keyboard and started to type in some commands.

Ford awoke and went downstairs to make breakfast. He looked down towards the front door and noticed the table in an awkward position. He grabbed a piece of toast and headed out to it. He looked around and noticed the clock had been damaged. He picked it up and headed back to the kitchen just as Claira walked back in. She walked straight past the table and moved to the foot of the stairs listening for any signs of life.

Ford moved up behind her and coughed as he brought the clock in to her vision. She slightly looked at it then looked at the hall table.

"Damn." She said then looked down.

"Do you want to tell me something?"

She turned round to look at him as she remembered her hand and looked at it.

"I guess I had an accident."

He now looked at her had and grabbed it.

"Claira! What have you been doing?" He said pulling her in to the kitchen and grabbing the first aid kit from the top cupboard.

"I went down to the computer room last night to check on the information that Slartibartfast had entered into it last night."

"You had to do that while I was asleep, right?" He said putting some antiseptic wipes around the cut on her hand.

"Yeah, owwh that hurts."

"It's supposed to. It's helping to clean any infection that might have got in to it."

"Infection?" She said pulling her hand away. "Ahhh, no way Ford, I've had all those shots at the offices. You know the hey, I think one of them was for an anti human virus."

"I know, I've had that one, but it hasn't done me any good, has it? Give me your hand, I haven't finished yet." He said trying to grab her hand again.

"No way dad, I'm covered, I think I have a certificate somewhere." She said moving away.

"Claira! Your hand, now!" He said following her holding a small bandage.

She looked at him.

"Is that, is that for me?"

"Well it's certainly not for me. I'm not bleeding." He said looking at her.

Claira allowed him to bandage her hand as she cautiously watched him. "There, how does that feel?"

"Alright, I guess."

"Maybe a little thank you daddy wouldn't go amiss here, ha?"

"Hurh?" She said watching him.

He smiled and kissed her.

"Never mind. Do you wanna tell me about what you found out in that computer room down the hall?" He said going back to the cupboard to put the box away.

"Ha, oh you mean what Slartibartfast has in mind for us." She said moving up to the kitchen table and jumping on to it.

He looked at her and slightly shook his head.

"Who says that he has anything in mind for us? He's just concerned about the planet out there."

"Yeah well, that's what you would believe wouldn't you?"

He looked at her.

She now jumped off the table and gestured with her finger towards Ford and made sure he followed her to the computer room.

He watched Claira jump onto the stool and swivel around to face the computer.

"It's still early, I don't think any of the others are up yet." Claira said concentrating on the commands she was typing in to the computer. "There, Phase one of the Earth mark three, complete. Phase two repositioning of Earth in to pre-assigned galactic co-ordinates."

"All seems normal to me." Ford said moving around to the other side of the computer.

"Not until you read those co-ordinates. These aren't the co-ordinates that were assigned to this computer. Slartibartfast has changed them."

"Well, why?" He said looking over the computer towards her. Claira leaned back in the chair watching him and shrugged her shoulders. "Oh no! I'm not going to be your scapegoat on this one." He said moving towards the door.

Claira jumped up and stopped him opening it.

"Well, you certainly don't expect this human to go up to him and say, 'hello Slartibartfast, what have you got planned for this new Earth and does it have anything to do with marooning us mortals on it, while you carry on your merry little way with the Earth mark four?'" She said now folding her arms in the way he normally would.

"Excuse me."

Claira stared at him then slowly moved aside and allowed him to go out.

Everyone was soon awake and Claira joined Ford at the breakfast table to enjoy her hot porridge.

Trillian looked over to Claira fighting to keep hold of the spoon as she tussled with the bandage.

"What happened to your hand, Claira?"

"Hurh? Oh erm," She looked down.

"Something to do with a large clock, wasn't it darling?" Ford said looking over to her. "Poor thing, she wanted to clean the table that it sat on, forgot where she was for a moment and well, you know the rest." He said looking at Trillian and gesturing.

Claira stared at him mouth open.

"Does it hurt?" Arthur said looking at her.

"Erm." She said looking at the slight bloodstain that was showing through the white bandage. "No, no!" She said now pulling her hand from view.

"Daddy managed to mop up the blood that she spilt all over my wooden flooring. The bandage is purely for cosmetic effect, that's just fake blood, right Claira?"

She just stared at him then tried to carry on having breakfast.

"Ford please, your embarrassing her." Arthur said watching them.

"Am I? Oh, you know I'd never have noticed it. I apologise, darling?" He said making sure Claira looked at him.

"Excuse me!" She said jumping up and moved outside to the patio area.

"That was uncalled for." Trillian said moving over the table. "It's obvious that her hand is still hurting her and your only rubbing salt into it."

"Her hand is not the issue here, Trillian, that's just a." He stopped and looked out to Claira staring out in to space. "Slartibartfast."

"Hurh?" Arthur said looking up.

"That's what all this is about. Well, I give her credit for it. She's used me again, just like she did that day I met her."

"Ford, what are you talking about?" Arthur said watching him.

Claira sat on the very edge of the patio chair then eased herself further back in to it noticing her bandage hand that seemed to get in the way of every view at that stage.

Slartibartfast sat in the other chair not entirely relaxed but trying to make himself look like he was enjoying the rest.

Ford walked out carrying the first aid box again and moved in to Claira's vision and coughed.

Claira stared straight at him.

"Would you mind moving your legs for a while? I'm just checking up on the condition of your hand."

"The condition of my hand? Dad, you only put the bandage on half an hour ago." Claira said pointing back.

Ford looked at Slartibartfast and again cleared his throat gesturing towards him.

Claira watched him then looked at Slartibartfast then back at Ford.

"I noticed some more blood. I don't think that it's stopped bleeding yet." He said pushing Claira's legs round to sit down and again gestured towards Slartibartfast. "Do you understand now, darling?"

"Hurh? Oh erm, my hand erm, yeah, I guess." She said watching him.

"That's good." He said taking her hand and loosening the bandage. "Getting some sun, Slartibartfast?"

There was a slight pause as Slartibartfast finally realised Ford was talking to him.

"What? Oh erm, if you could call it that, yes."

"Nice area to relax in. The patio and erm, this region of space." Ford said looking around.

"Yes, erm yes, very nice."

"What region of space are we in, by the way?"

Slartibartfast now sat up and looked at him then Claira who seemed to be poised at every word uttered at that moment.

"Erm, I'd have to check my charts for the specific region." He said rising to his feet.

"You don't need your charts the computer has all the information you need. All the information I needed to find out that we're off course, way off course in fact." Claira said now standing up to face him.

He looked at her.

"And how do you work that one out, Miss Prefect?"

"I don't have to work anything out. It's all there to see in the computer room. What your planning to do with us once we've reached the area of space required for this new Earth."

"What I'm going to do with you once we've reached the area of space? Ford, what is your child talking about?"

"I wish I knew. I'm still trying to work out why I took her in that day."

"Hurh?" She said spinning round to face him. "Ford, I thought that you were going to back me up here."

"I would have if I'd have thought that there was any truth in the matter, but you can see that there isn't. Face it Claira, Slartibartfast is just like us, all he wants is to eject this new Earth into a region of space uncharted by the Vogon's."

"Yes, with us marooned on it ready to carry on the human race." Claira said again forgetting that Ford was not a human.

"Human, yeah right!" Ford said going back to checking the contents of the first aid kit.

"No, I meant."

"I know exactly what you meant Claira, from the second I met you I knew what you were and who you were. I'm just glad that I took you out of the system before anymore damage could have been done."

"Took me out of the system? What do you mean?"

"By finally giving you a life. Who were you before you met me, ha?"

"Does it matter?"

"It does to you otherwise you wouldn't have got so hot under the collar when you thought that Slartibartfast was planning something that you had no control over. Like the destruction of the Earth, the death of your parents."

"The death of my parents? What have they got to do with?"

"It has everything to do with the way your feeling at the moment. Why you don't trust me, why you hurt your hand in the manner that you did."

She looked down at her hand, which at that moment seemed to be bandaged so gently as she now looked towards the person who treated it. "You trusted me with treating your hand. Why don't you trust me with looking after you like a parent should towards his child?"

"Because it's not right." She said looking at him.

"It's not right? It's not right because you've never known anything to be wrong. All you've known is to wake up in the morning, to go outside and find another mug to give you a bed for the night and then carry on until the heat is off again. You remember the social services, don't you?"

Claira stepped back and stared at him.

"I'm not going back there Ford, I don't belong there."

"I know that. You belong with me, you always have done. You just don't want to believe it because it's not in your nature to. Those two years away from me haven't helped either, but that's another subject that we can deal with later."

"You mean about leaving you that night? Again he brings up that chapter in our relationship!" She said starting to get on her high horse.

Ford moved towards Claira and grabbed her.

"The reason you left me that night was because." He stopped and realised that they were still having this conversation with Slartibartfast looking on. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment then opened them to focus in on Claira at the end of his arms. "Was because you were scared, nothing else, and I don't blame you for that. You were seven years old, you didn't know any different. Some bloke comes up to you and says that the Earth is going to be destroyed the next day, you had the guide, the sub etha to hand, and you had to believe that it was all true. The average adult human, your uncle Arthur included, needed the Earth to actually explode to make him believe the story I was telling you."

"It took a view screen on the Destroyer to prove to me that my home was gone. For six months I replayed the tape of its destruction. I think that I must have gone through a dozen tape heads." Claira said trying to raise a laugh out of the situation. "And all I could think of was, was that last day. I remember every detail of it. The walk I took in the park when I first found out about the Vogon's. Trying to keep away from the police, when I thought that they would take me back to the home."

"I saved you from that, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember. You told the policeman that I was your daughter."

"Of which you are, then and now." He said touching. "On Earth I was your father, your parent." He said watching Claira move closer to him. "I will always be your father."

Ford and Claira now held each other but neither one of them spoke. Ford looked down at her looking up. She was about to speak, but he stopped her and held her again.

"That's alright, that's okay. I know how you feel. It's a nice feeling though, isn't it?" He said looking down.

She closed her eyes and sighed.

**CHAPTER 20**

Slartibartfast moved down the corridor and entered the computer room. He sat down cautiously into the swivel chair and positioned himself in front of the screen and started to type some commands on to the keyboard as the computer burbled in to life.

His final plans were now being put in to action and he sat back and looked at the screen completing his wishes. He slightly smiled and stood up and headed towards the door and back out to the others.

He moved to the edge of the patio area as the ship made some course changes as he had expected.

Arthur looked up from his book and noticed that the position of the sun had moved.

"Oh, I wasn't expecting that." He added then watched the sun moving around as he followed it.


End file.
